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Complete Works of
Abraham Lincoln

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Abraham Lincoln

Photogravure from a Portrait taken from Life by

Charles A, Barry in Springfield, Illinois,

June, i860.

Complete Works of

Abraham Lincoln

Edited by

John G. Nicolay and John Hay

With a General Introduction by

Richard Watson Gilder, and Special Articles

by Other Eminent Persons

New and Enlarged Edition

VOLUME VI

New York
The Tandy-Thomas Company

JOHN G. NICOLAY and JOHN HAY

FRANCIS D. TANDY

The Character of Lincoln/

WHILE I speak to you to-day, the body of
the President who ruled this people is
lying honored and loved, in our city. It
is impossible with that sacred presence in our midst
for me to stand and speak of the ordinary topics
which occupy the pulpit. I must speak of him to-
day; and I therefore undertake to do what I had in-
tended to do at some future time, to invite you to
study with me the character of Abraham Lincoln,
the impulses of his life, and the causes of his death.
I know how hard it is to do it rightly, how impos-
sible it is to do it worthily. But I shall speak with
confidence because I speak to those who loved him,
and whose ready love will fill out the deficiencies in
a picture which my words will weakly try to draw.
I can only promise you to speak calmly, conscien-
tiously, affectionately, and with what understanding
of him I can command.

We take it for granted first of all, that there is
an essential connection between Mr. Lincoln's char-
acter and his violent and bloody death. It is no
accident, no arbitrary decree of Providence. He
lived as he did, and he died as he did, because he was

1 From a sermon at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadel-
phia, April 23, 1865.

vi The Character of Lincoln

what he was. The more we see of events the less
we come to believe In any fate or destiny except the
destiny of character. It will be our duty, then, to see
what there was In the character of our great Presi-
dent that created the history of his life and at last
produced the catastrophy of his cruel death. After
the first trembling horror, the first outburst of In-
dignant sorrow has grown calm, these are the ques-
tions which we are bound to ask and answer.

It is not necessary for me even to sketch the bio-
graphy of Mr. Lincoln. He was born In Kentucky,
fifty-six years ago, when Kentucky was a pioneer
State. He lived, as boy and man, the hard and
needy life of a backwoodsman, a farmer, a river boat-
man, and finally, by his own efforts at self-education,
of an active, respected, influential citizen in the half-
organized and manifold interests of a new and en-
ergetic community. From his boyhood up he lived
In direct and vigorous contact with men and things,
not as in older states and easier conditions with words
and theories; and both his moral convictions and his
Intellectual opinions gathered from that contact a
supreme degree of that character by which men knew
him — that character which is the most distinctive
possession of the best American nature — that almost
indlscrlbable quality which we call In general clearness
or truth, and which appears in the physical structure
as health. In the moral constitution as honesty, in the
mental structure as sagacity, and In the region of
active life as practicalness. This one character, with
many sides all shaped by the same essential force and

The Character of Lincoln vii

testifying to the same inner influences, was what was
powerful in him and decreed for him the Hfe he was
to live and the death he was to die. We must take
no smaller view than this of what he was. Even his
physical conditions are not to be forgotten in making
up his character. We make too little always of the
physical; certainly we make too little of it here if we
lose out of sight the strength and muscular activity,
the power of doing and enduring, which the back-
woods-boy inherited from generations of hard-living
ancestors, and appropriated for his own by a long dis-
cipline of bodily toil. He brought to the solution of
the question of labor in this country^ not merely a
mind but a body thoroughly in sympathy with labor,
full of the culture of labor, bearing witness to the
dignity and excellence of work in every muscle that
work had toughened and every sense that work had
made clear and true. He could not have brought
the mind for his task so perfectly, unless he had first
brought the body whose rugged and stubborn health
was always contradicting to him the false theories of
labor, and always asserting the true. Who shall say
that even with David the son of Jesse, there was not
a physical as well as a spiritual culture in the struggle
with the lion and the bear which occurred among the
sheepfolds, out of which God took him to be the ruler
of his people.

As to the moral and mental powers which dis-
tinguished him, all embraceable under this general
description of clearness or truth, the most remark-
able thing in the way in which they blend with one

viii The Character of Lincoln

another, so that it is next to impossible to examine
them in separation. A great many people have dis-
cussed very crudely whether Abraham Lincoln was an
intelligent man or not; as if intellect were a thing
always of the same sort, which you could precipitate
from the other constituents of a man's nature and
weight by itself, and compare by pounds and ounces
in this man with another. The fact is that in all the
simplest characters the line between the mental and
moral natures is always vague and indistinct. They
run together, and in their best combinations you are
unable to discriminate in the wisdom which is their
result, how much is moral and how much is intellect-
ual. You are unable to tell whether in the wise acts
and words which issue from such a life there is more
of the righteousness that comes of a clear conscience
or of the sagacity that comes of a clear brain. In
more complex characters and under more complex
conditions, the moral and the mental lives come to be
less healthily combined. They cooperate, they help
each other less. They come even to stand over against
each other as antagonists; till we have that vague but
most melancholy notion which pervades the life of
all elaborate civilization, that goodness and great-
ness, as we call them, are not to be looked for to-
gether, till w^e expect to see and so do see a feeble
and narrow conscientiousness on the one hand and a
bad unprincipled intelligence on the other, dividing
the suffrages of men.

It is the great boon of such characters as Mr. Lin-
coln's, that they reunite what God has joined together

The Character of Lincoln ix

and man has put asunder. In him was vindicated
the greatness of real goodness and the goodness of
real greatness. The twain were one flesh. Not one
of all the multitudes who stood and looked up to
him for direction with such a loving and implicit trust
can tell you to-day whether the wise judgments that
he gave came most from a strong head or a sound
heart. If you ask them they are puzzled. There arc
men as good as he, but they do bad things. There
are men as intelligent as he, but they do foolish things.
In him goodness and intelligence combined and made
their best result of wisdom. For perfect truth con-
sists not merely in the right constituents of character,
but in their right and intimate conjunction. This
union of the mental and moral into a life of admira-
ble simplicity is what we most admire in children,
but in them it is unsettled and unpractical. But
when it is preserved into a manhood, deepened into
reliability and maturity, it is that glorified childlike-
ness, that high and reverend simplicity which shames
and baffles the most accomplished astuteness, and is
chosen by God to fill his purposes when he needs a
ruler for his people of faithful and true heart, such
as he had who was our President.

Another evident quality of such a character as this,
will be its freshness or newness, so to speak. Its
freshness, or readiness — call it what you will — its
ability to take up new duties and do them In a new
way will result of necessity from its truth and clear-
ness. The simple natures and forces will always be
the most pliant ones. Water bends and shapes Itself

X The Character of Lincoln

to any channel. Air folds and adapts Itself to each
new figure. They are the simplest and the most
infinitely active things in nature. So this nature, in
very virtue of Its simplicity, must be also free, always
fitting itself to each new need. It will always start
from the most fundamental and eternal conditions,
and work In the straightest even although they be
the newest ways to the present prescribed purpose.
In one word it must be broad and independent and
radical. So that freedom and radicalness in the
character of Abraham Lincoln were not separate
qualities, but the necessary results of his simplicity
and chlldllkeness and truth.

Here then we have some conception of the man.
Out of this character came the life which we admire
and the death which we lament to-day. He was
called in that character to that life and death. It
was just the nature, as you see, which a new nation
such as ours ought to produce. All the conditions
of his birth, his youth, his manhood, which made
him what he was, were not irregular and exceptional,
but were the normal conditions of a new and simple
country. His pioneer home in Indiana, was a type
of the pioneer land In which he lived. If ever there
was a man who was a part of the time and country
he lived in this was he. The same simple respect
for labor won In the school of work and Incorporated
into blood and muscle; the same unassuming loyalty
to the simple virtues of temperance and Industry and
Integrity; the same sagacious judgment which had
learned to be quick-eyed and quick-brained In the

The Character of Lincoln xi

constant presence of emergency; the same direct and
clear thought about things, social, political and re-
ligious, that was in him supremely, was In the people
he was sent to rule. Surely, with such a type-man
for ruler, there would seem to be but a smooth and
even road over which he might lead the people whose
character he represented Into the new region of na-
tional happiness and comfort and usefulness, for
which that character had been designed.

But then we come to the beginning of all trouble.
Abraham Lincoln was the type-man of the country,
but not of the whole country. This character which
we have been trying to describe was the character of
an American under the discipline of freedom. There
was another American character which had been de-
veloped under the influence of slavery. There was
no one American character embracing the land.
There were two characters, with impulses of irre-
pressible and deadly conflict. This citizen whom
we have been honoring and praising represented one.
The whole great scheme with which he was ultimately
brought in conflict, and which has finally killed him,
represented the other. Beside this nature, true and
fresh and new, there was another nature false and
effete and old. The one nature found itself in a new
world, and set itself to discover the new ways for the
new duties that were given it. The other nature, full
of the false pride of blood, set itself to reproduce In
a new world the institutions and the spirit of the old,
to build anew the structure of a feudalism which had
been corrupt in Its own days, and which had been left

xii The Character of Lincoln

far behind by the advancing conscience and needs of
the progressing race. The one nature magnified
labor, the other nature depreciated and despised it.
The one honored the laborer and the other scorned
him. The one was simple and direct. The other
complex, full of sophistries and self-excuses. The
one was free to look all that claimed to be truth
in the face, and separate the error from the truth that
might be in it. The other did not dare to investigate
because its own established prides and systems were
dearer to it than the truth itself, and so even truth
went about in it doing the work of error. The one
was ready to state broad principles, of the brother-
hood of man, the universal fatherhood and justice of
God, however imperfectly it might realize them in
practice. The other denied even the principles, and
so dug deep and laid below its special sins the broad
foundation of a consistent acknowledged sinfulness.
In a word, one nature was full of the influences of
Freedom, the other nature was full of the influences
of Slavery.

Here then we have the two. The history of our
country for many years is the history of how these
two elements of American life approached collision.
They wrought their separate reactions on each other.
Men debate and quarrel even now about the rise of
Northern abolitionism, about whether the Northern
abolitionists were right or wrong, whether they did
harm or good. How vain the quarrel is! It was

The Character of Lincoln xiii

inevitable. It was inevitable in the nature of things
that two such natures living here together should be
set violently against each other. It is inevitable, till
man be far more unfeeling and untrue to his convic-
tions than he has always been, that a great wrong
asserting itself vehemently should arouse to no less
vehement assertion the opposing right. The only
wonder is that there was not more of it. The only
wonder is that so few were swept away to take by an
impulse they could not resist their stand of hatred to
the wicked institution. The only wonder is that
only one brave, reckless man came forth to cast him-
self, almost single-handed, with a hopeless hope,
against the proud power that he hated, and trust to
the influence of a soul marching on into the history
of his countrymen to stir them to a vindication of the
truth he loved. At any rate, whether the abolitionists
were wrong or right, there grew up about their vio-
lence, as there always will about the extremism of ex-
treme reformers, a great mass of feeling, catching
their spirit and asserting it firmly though In more
moderate degrees and methods. About the nucleus
of Abolitionism grew up a great American Anti-
slavery determination, which at last gathered strength
enough to take its stand, to insist upon the checking
and limiting the extension of the power of slavery,
and to put the type-man whom God had been pre-
paring for the task, before the world to do the work
on which it had resolved. Then came discontent,
secession, treason. The two American natures long
advancing to encounter, met at last and a whole

xiv The Character of Lincoln

country yet trembling with the shock, bears witness
how terrible the meeting was.

Thus I have tried briefly to trace out the gradual
course by which God brought the character which he
designed to be the controlling character of this new
world into distinct collision with the hostile character
which it was to destroy and absorb, and set it in the
person of its type-man in the seat of highest power.
The character formed under the discipline of Free-
dom, and the character formed under the discipline
of Slavery, developed all their difference and met in
hostile conflict when this war began. Notice, it was
not only in what he did and was towards the slave,
it was in all he did and was everywhere that we ac-
cept Mr. Lincoln's character as the true result of our
free life and institutions. Nowhere else could have
come forth that genuine love of the people, which in
him no one could suspect of being either the cheap
flattery of the demagogue or the r.bstract philan-
thropy of the philosopher, which mn.da our President,
while he lived, the centre of z great household land,
and when he died so cruelly, made every humblest
household thrill with a sense of personal bereave-
ment which the death of rulers is not apt to bring.
Nowhere else than out of the life of freedom could
have come that personal unselfishness and generosity
which made so gracious a part of this good man's
character.

Now it was in this character rather than in any

The Character of Lincoln xv

mere political position that the fitness of Mr. Lincoln
to stand forth in the struggle of the two American
natures really lay. We are told that he did not come
to the Presidential chair pledged to the abolition of
Slavery. When will we learn that with all true men
it is not what they intend to do, but It is what the
quahties of their natures bind them to do that deter-
mines their career? The President came to his power
full of the blood, strong In the strength of Freedom.
He came there free and hating slavery. He came
there, leaving on record words like these spoken three
years before and never contradicted. He had said,
*' A house divided against itself cannot stand. I
believe this Government cannot endure, permanently,
half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union
to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall;
but I expect it will cease to be divided. It will be-
come all one thing or all the other." When the
question came he knew which thing he meant that it
should be. His whole nature settled that question
for him. With such a man, intentions far ahead
meant little. Such a man must always live as he
used to say he lived, (and was blamed for saying it)
" controlled by events, not controlling them." And
with a reverent and clear mind to be controlled
by events, means to be controlled by God. For such
a man there was no hesitation when God brought
him up face to face with Slavery and put the sword
into his hand and said, " Strike it down dead." He
was a willing servant then. If ever the face of a
man writing solemn words glowed with a solemn

xvi The Character of Lincoln

joy, it must have been the face of Abraham Lincoln,
as he bent over the page where the Emancipation
Proclamation of 1863 was growing into shape, and
giving manhood and freedom as he wrote it to hun-
dreds of thousands of his fellowmen. Here was a
work in which his whole nature could rejoice. Here
was an act that crowned the whole culture of his life.
All the past, the free boyhood in the woods, the free
youth upon the farm, the free manhood in the hon-
orable citizen's employments — all his freedom gath-
ered and completed itself in this. And as the swar-
thy multitudes came in ragged, and tired, and hungry,
and ignorant, but free forever from anything but the
memorial scars of the fetters and the whip, singing
rude songs in which the new triumph of freedom
struggled and heaved below the sad melody that had
been shaped for bondage; as in their camps and
hovels there grew up to their half-superstitious eyes
the image of a great Father almost more than man
to whom they owed their freedom ; were they not half
right? For it was not to one man, driven by stress
of policy, or wept off by a whim of pity that the
noble act was due. It was to the American nature,
long kept by God in his own intentions till his time
should come, at last emerging into sight and power,
and bound up and embodied in this best and most
American of all Americans, to whom we and those
poor frightened slaves at last might look up together
and love to call him with one voice, our Father.

So let him lie here in our midst to-day, and let our

The Character of Lincohi xvii

people go and bend with solemn thoughtfulness and
look upon his face and read the lessons of his burial.
As he paused here on his journey from his western
home and told us what by the help of God he meant
to do, so let him pause upon his way back to his
western grave and tell us with a silence more elo-
quent than words how bravely, how truly by the
strength of God he did it. God brought him up as
he brought David up from the sheepfolds to feed
Jacob, his people and Israel his inheritance. He
came up in earnestness and faith and he goes back
in triumph. As he pauses here to-day, and from
his cold lips bids us bear witness how he has met the
duty that was laid on him, what can we say out of
our full hearts but this — " He fed them with a
faithful and true heart and ruled them prudently with
all his power." The Shepherd of the People! that
old name that the best rulers ever craved. What
ruler ever won it like this dead President of ours?
He fed us faithfully and truly. He fed us with
counsel when we were in doubt, with inspiration when
we sometimes faltered, with caution when we would
be rash, with calm, clear, trustful cheerfulness through
many an hour when our hearts were dark. He fed
hungry souls all over the country with sympathy and
consolation. He spread before the whole land feasts
of great duty and devotion and patriotism on which
the land grew strong. He fed us with solemn, solid
truths. He taught us the sacredness of government,
the wickedness of treason. He made our souls glad
and vigorous with the love of Liberty that was in his.

xviii The Character of Lincoln

He showed us how to love truth and yet be charita-
ble — how to hate wrong and all oppression, and yet
not treasure one personal injury or insult. He fed
all his people from the highest to the lowest, from
the most privileged down to the most enslaved. Best
of all, he fed us with a reverent and genuine religion.
He spread before us the love and fear of God just
in that shape in which we need them most, and out
of his faithful service of a higher Master who of us
has not taken and eaten and grown strong. *' He
fed them with a faithful and true heart." Yes, till
the last. For at the last, behold him standing with
hand reached out to feed the South with Mercy and
the North with Charity, and the whole land with
Peace, when the Lord who had sent him called him
and his work was done.

c>CCc^

Abraham Lincoln

By William Cullen Bryant

O, slow to smite and swift to spare,
Gentle and merciful and just!

Who, in the fear of God, didst bear

The sword of power — a nation's trust!

In sorrow by thy bier we stand,

Amid the awe that hushes all,
And speak the anguish of a land

That shook with horror at that fall.

Thy task is done; the bond are free;

We bear thee to an honored grave,
Whose proudest monument shall be

The broken fetters of the slave.

Pure was thy life; its bloody close

Has placed thee with the sons of light,

Among the noble host of those

Who perished in the cause of Right.

Illustrations

Abraham Lincoln . Frontispiece

Photogravure from a portrait taken from Jife by Charles A.
Barry in Springfield, 111., June, i860.

PACK

Lincoln's Letter of Acceptance, May 23, i860 24

Fac-simile of the original letter to the President of the National
Republican Convention.

Lincoln's Home in Springfield, III. . . .110

From an original photograph of the house where he lived when
elected President.

William H. Seward 168

Wood-engraving after a daguerreotype taken about 1851.

Fort Sumter 220

After a rare engraving shovwng the effect of the bombardment.

Complete Works of
Abraham Lincoln

Volume VI
[i860 — 1861]

Complete Works of
Abraham Lincoln

Abstract of Speech at Norwich, Connecti-
cut— March 9, i860

WHETHER we will or not, the question
of slavery is the question, the all-ab-
sorbing topic, of the day. It is true
that all of us — and by that I mean, not the
Republican party alone, but the whole Ameri-
can people, here and elsewhere — all of us wish
the question settled — wish it out of the way.

It stands in the way and prevents the adjust-
ment and the giving of necessary attention to
other questions of national housekeeping. The
people of the whole nation agree that this ques-
tion ought to be settled, and yet it is not settled.
And the reason is that they are not yet agreed
how it shall be settled.

Again and again it has been fondly hoped that
it was settled, but every time it breaks out afresh
and more violently than ever. It was settled.

2 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 9

our fathers hoped, by the Missouri Compro-
mise, but it did not stay settled. Then the com-
promise of 1850 was declared to be a full and
final settlement of the question. The two great
parties, each in national convention, adopted
resolutions declaring that the settlement made
by the compromise of 1850 was a finality — that
it would last forever. Yet how long before it
was unsettled again? It broke out again in
1854, and blazed higher and raged more fu-
riously than ever before, and the agitation has
not rested since.

These repeated settlements must have some
fault about them. There must be some inade-
quacy in their very nature to the purpose for
which they were designed. We can only specu-
late as to where that fault — that inadequacy is,
but we may perhaps profit by past experience.

I think that one of the causes of these repeated
failures is that our best and greatest men have
greatly underestimated the size of this question.
They have constantly brought forward small
cures for great sores — plasters too small to cover
the wound. This is one reason that all settle-
ments have proved so temporary, so evanescent.

Look at the magnitude of this subject. About
one sixth of the whole population of the United
States are slaves. The owners of the slaves con-
sider them property. The effect upon the minds

i860] Norwich Speech 3

of the owners is that of property, and nothing
else — it induces them to insist upon all that will
favorably affect its value as property, to demand
laws and institutions and a public policy that
shall increase and secure its value, and make it
durable, lasting, and universal. The effect on
the minds of the owners is to persuade them that
there is no wrong in it.

But here in Connecticut and at the North
slavery does not exist, and we see it through no
such medium. To us it appears natural to think
that slaves are human beings; men, not prop-
erty; that some of the things, at least, stated
about men in the Declaration of Independence
apply to them as well as to us. We think slav-
ery a great moral wrong; and while we do not
claim the right to touch it where it exists, we
wish to treat it as a wrong in the Territories
where our votes will reach it. Now these two
ideas, the property idea that slavery is right,
and the idea that it is wrong, come into col-
lision, and do actually produce that irrepressible
conflict which Mr. Seward has been so roundly
abused for mentioning. The two ideas conflict,
and must conflict.

There are but two policies in regard to slav-
ery that can be at all maintained. The first,
based upon the property view that slavery is
right, conforms to the idea throughout, and de-

4 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 14

mands that we shall do everything for it that we
ought to do if it were right. The other policy
is one that squares with the idea that slavery is
wrong, and it consists in doing everything that
we ought to do if it is wrong. I don't mean that
we ought to attack it where it exists. To me it
seems that if we were to form a govern-
ment anew, in view of the actual presence
of slavery we should find it necessary to
frame just such a government as our fathers did
— giving to the slaveholder the entire control
where the system was established, while we pos-
sessed the power to restrain it from going out-
side those limits.

Now I have spoken of a policy based upon
the idea that slavery is wrong, and a policy based
upon the idea that it is right. But an effort has
been made for a policy that shall treat it as nei-
ther right nor wrong. Its central idea is indif-
ference. It holds that it makes no more differ-
ence to me whether the Territories become free
or slave States than whether my neighbor stocks
his farm with horned cattle or puts it into to-
bacco. All recognize this policy, the plausible,
sugar-coated name of which is "popular sov-
ereignty."

Mr. Lincoln showed up the fallacy of this
policy at length, and then made a manly vindi-

i86o] Letter to Harvey 5

cation of the principles of the Republican party,
urging the necessity of the union of all elements
to free our country from its present rule, and
closed with an eloquent exhortation for each
and every one to do his duty without regard to
the sneers and slanders of our political op-
ponents.

*Letter to Alexander W. Harvey

Springfield, Illinois, March 14, i860.
Dear Sir: Your despatch of the 27th ult. to
Mr. Greely, asking if you could not have a
speech from me on my return, was forwarded
to me by Mr. G., reaching me at Exeter, N. H.
The appointments I had then already made
carried me so far beyond my allotted time that
I could not consistently add another.

I hope I may yet be allowed to meet the good
people of Buffalo before the close of the strug-
gle in which we are engaged.

Yours respectfully,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to , March i6, i860

As to your kind wishes for myself, allow me to
say I cannot enter the ring on the money basis —
first, because in the main it is wrong; and sec-
ondly, I have not and cannot get the money.

I say, in the main, the use of money is wron^;

6 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 24

but for certain objects in a political contest, the
use of some is both right and indispensable.
With me, as with yourself, the long struggle has
been one of great pecuniary loss.

I now distinctly say this — if you shall be ap-
pointed a delegate to Chicago, I will furnish
one hundred dollars to bear the expenses of the
trip. Your friend, as ever,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to J. W. Somers

Springfield, March 17, i860.

My dear Sir: Reaching home three days ago,
I found your letter of February 26th.

Considering your difficulty of hearing, I think
you had better settle in Chicago, if, as you say,
a good man already in fair practice there will
take you into partnership. If you had not that
difficulty, I still should think it an even balance
whether you would not better remain in Chi-
cago, with such a chance for copartnership.

If I went West, I think I would go to Kansas,
— to Leavenworth or Atchison. Both of them
are, and will continue to be, fine growing places.

I believe I have said all I can, and I have
said it with the deepest interest for your welfare.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

i860] Letter to Galloway 7

Letter to E. Stafford

Springfield, Illinois, March 17, i860.
Dear Sir: Reaching home on the 14th in-
stant, I found yours of the ist. Thanking you
very sincerely for your kind purposes toward
me, I am compelled to say the money part of the
arrangement you propose is, with me, an impos-
sibility. I could not raise ten thousand dollars
if it would save me from the fate of John Brown.
Nor have my friends, so far as I know, yet
reached the point of staking any money on my
chances of success. I wish I could tell you bet-
ter things, but it is even so.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Samuel Galloway

Chicago, March 24, i860.
My dear Sir: I am here attending a trial in
court. Before leaving home I received your
kind letter of the 15th. Of course I am gratified
to know I have friends in Ohio who are disposed
to give me the highest evidence of their friend-
ship and confidence. Mr. Parrott, of the legis-
lature, had written me to the same effect. If I
have any chance, it consists mainly in the fact
that the whole opposition would vote for me, if
nominated. (I don't mean to include the pro-

8 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 6

slavery opposition of the South, of course.) My
name is new in the field, and I suppose I am not
the first choice of a very great many. Our
policy, then, is to give no oflfense to others — leave
them in a mood to come to us if they shall be
compelled to give up their first love. This, too,
is dealing justly with all, and leaving us in a
mood to support heartily whoever shall be nomi-
nated. I believe I have once before told you
that I especially wish to do no ungenerous thing
toward Governor Chase, because he gave us his
sympathy in 1858 when scarcely any other dis-
tinguished man did. Whatever you may do for
me, consistently with these suggestions, will be
appreciated and gratefully remembered. Please
write me again. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to C. F. McNeil

Springfield, April 6, i860.
Dear Sir: Reaching home yesterday, I found
yours of the 23d March, inclosing a slip from
"The Middleport Press." It is not true that I
ever charged anything for a political speech in
my life; but this much is true: Last October
I was requested by letter to deliver some sort
of speech in Mr. Beecher's church, in Brook-
lyn— two hundred dollars being offered in the
first letter. I wrote that I could do it in Feb-

i86o] Letter to McNeil 9

ruary, provided they would take a political
speech if I could find time to get up no other.
They agreed ; and subsequently I informed them
the speech would have to be a political one.
When I reached New York, I for the first time
learned that the place was changed to "Cooper
Institute."

I made the speech, and left for New Hamp-
shire, where I have a son at school, neither
asking for pay, nor having any offered me.
Three days after a check for two hundred dol-
lars was sent to me at New Hampshire; and I
took it, and did not know it was wrong. My
understanding now is — though I knew nothing
of it at the time — that they did charge for ad-
mittance to the Cooper Institute, and that they
took in more than twice two hundred dollars.

I have made this explanation to you as a
friend; but I wish no explanation made to our
enemies. What they want is a squabble and a
fuss, and that they can have if we explain; and
they cannot have it if we don't.

When I returned through New York from
New England, I was told by the gentlemen who
sent me the check that a drunken vagabond in
the club, having learned something about the
two hundred dollars, made the exhibition out of
which "The Herald" manufactured the article
quoted by "The Press" of your town.

10 Abraham Lincoln [May 12

My judgment is, and therefore my request is,
that you give no denial and no explanation.

Thanking you for your kind interest in the
matter, I remain, Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to

Springfield, Illinois, April 14, i860.
My dear Sir: Reaching home last night, I
found your letter of the 7th. You know I was
in New England. Some of the acquaintances I
made while there write to me since the election
that the close vote in Connecticut and the quasi
defeat in Rhode Island are a drawback upon the
prospects of Governor Seward; and Trumbull
writes Dubois to the same efifect. Do not men-
tion this as coming from me. Both those States
are safe enough for us in the fall. I see by the
despatches that since you wrote Kansas has ap-
pointed delegates and instructed them for Sew-
ard. Do not stir them up to anger, but come
along to the convention, and I will do as I said
about expense. Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to Hawkins Taylor

Springfield, Illinois, April 21, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 15th is just re-
ceived. It surprises me that you have written

i86o] Letter to Wallace ii

twice, without my receiving an answer. I have
answered all I ever received from you ; and cer-
tainly one since my return from the East.

Opinions here as to the prospect of Douglas
being nominated, are quite conflicting — some
very confident he will, and others that he will
not be. I think his nomination possible; but
that the chances are against him.

I am glad there is a prospect of your party
passing this way to Chicago. Wishing to make
your visit here as pleasant as we can, we wish
you to notify us as soon as possible, whether you
come this way, how many, and when you will
arrive. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Dr. Edward Wallace.

Springfield, Illinois, May 12, i860.

My dear Sir: Your brother, Dr. W. S. Wal-
lace, shows me a letter of yours in which you
request him to inquire if you may use a letter of
mine to you in which something is said upon
the tariff question. I do not precisely remem-
ber what I did say in that letter, but I presume
I said nothing substantially different from what
I shall say now.

In the days of Henry Clay, I was a Henry-
Clay-tariff man, and my views have undergone
no material change upon that subject. I now

12 Abraham Lincoln [May 21

think the tariff question ought not to be agitated
in the Chicago convention, but that all should
be satisfied on that point with a presidential can-
didate whose antecedents give assurance that he
would neither seek to force a tariff law by execu-
tive influence, nor yet to arrest a reasonable one
by a veto or otherwise. Just such a candidate
I desire shall be put in nomination. I really
have no objection to these views being publicly
known, but I do wish to thrust no letter before
the public now upon any subject. Save me from
the appearance of obtrusion, and I do not care
who sees this or my former letter.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Reply to the Committee sent by the Chi-
cago Convention to inform Mr. Lincoln
of his Nomination for President
May 19, i860'

Springfield, Illinois, May 21, i860.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Com-
mittee: I tender to you, and through you to the
Republican National Convention, and all the

* Lincoln's nomination was well received, except by extreme
abolitionists. In i860 the presidential fight was four-cornered.
There was the Republican Party, with Lincoln and Hannibal
Hamlin of Maine, which held that slavery was a moral wrong,
and that its extension should be prohibited by Congress; Douglas
Democrats, with Douglas and Johnson of Georgia, indifferent to
the right and wrong of slavery, but claiming each territory should
have the privilege to decide the question; the Buchanan Demo-

i86o] Letter to Giddings 13

people represented in it, my profoundest thanks
for the high honor done me, which you now for-
mally announce.

Deeply and even painfully sensible of the
great responsibility which is inseparable from
this high honor — a responsibility which I could
almost wish had fallen upon some one of the
far more eminent men and experienced states-
men whose distinguished names were before
the convention — I shall, by your leave, consider
more fully the resolutions of the convention,
denominated the platform, and without any un-
necessary or unreasonable delay respond to you,
Mr. Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the
platform will be found satisfactory, and the
nomination gratefully accepted.

And now I will not longer defer the pleasure
of taking you, and each of you, by the hand.

Letter TO J. R. Giddings

Springfield, Illinois, May 21, i860.

My good Friend: Your very kind and ac-
ceptable letter of the 19th was duly handed me
by Mr. Tuck.

It is indeed most grateful to my feelings that

crats, with J. C. Breckenridge of Kentucky and Joseph Lane
of Oregon declaring that slavery was right and should be ex-
tended; the Constitutional Union party, with Bell of Tennessee
and Edward Everett of Massachusetts entirely ignoring slavery
and recognizing no principles except " the union of the country,
the union of the States and the enforcement of the laws."

14 Abraham Lincoln [May 23

the responsible position assigned me comes
without conditions, save only such honorable
ones as are fairly implied. I am not wanting
in the purpose, though I may fail in the strength,
to maintain my freedom from bad influences.
Your letter comes to my aid in this point most
opportunely. May the Almighty grant that the
cause of truth, justice, and humanity shall in no
wise suffer at my hands.

Mrs. Lincoln joins me in sincere wishes for
your health, happiness, and long life.

A. Lincoln.

Letter to George Ashmun and the Repub-
lican National Convention

Springfield, Illinois, May 23, i860.

Sir: I accept the nomination tendered me by
the convention over which you presided, and of
which I am formally apprised in the letter of
yourself and others, acting as a committee of the
convention for that purpose.

The declaration of principles and sentiments
which accompanies your letter meets my appro-
val ; and it shall be my care not to violate or dis-
regard it in any part.

Imploring the assistance of Divine Provi-
dence, and with due regard to the views and
feelings of all who were represented in the con-
vention— to the rights of all the States and Ter-

i86o] Letter of Acceptance 15

ritories and people of the nation; to the invio-
lability of the Constitution ; and the perpetual
union, harmony, and prosperity of all — I am
most happy to cooperate for the practical suc-
cess of the principles declared by the conven-
tion.
Your obliged friend and fellov^-citizen,

A. Lincoln.

Platform of the Republican National Con-
vention HELD IN Chicago, Illinois, May 16-
18, i860.

Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives
of the Republican electors of the United States, in
convention assembled, in the discharge of the duty we
owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the
following declarations :

1. That the history of the nation during the last
four years has fully established the propriety and
necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the
Republican party; and that the causes which called it
into existence are permanent In their nature, and now,
more than ever before, demand Its peaceful and con-
stitutional triumph,

2. That the mialntenance of the principles promul-
gated in the Declaration of Independence and em-
bodied In the Federal Constitution Is essential to the
preservation of our Republican Institutions, and that
the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and
the union of the States, must and shall be preserved.

1 6 Abraham Lincoln [May 23

3. That to the union of the States this nation owes
Its unprecedented Increase in population, Its surprising
development of material resources, its rapid augmen-
tation of wealth, Its happiness at home, and its honor
abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for
disunion, come from whatever source they may. And
we congratulate the country that no Republican mem-
ber of Congress has uttered or countenanced the
threats of disunion so often made by Democratic
members without rebuke and with applause from
their political associates; and we denounce those
threats of disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of
their ascendency, as denying the vital principles of a
free government, and as an avowal of contemplated
treason, which It Is the Imperative duty of an indig-
nant people sternly to rebuke and forever silence.

4. That the maintenance Inviolate of the rights of
the States, and especially the right of each State to
order and control Its own domestic Institutions accord-
ing to Its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that
balance of power on which the perfection and endur-
ance of our political fabric depends; and we denounce
the lawless Invasion by armed force of the soil of any
State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as
among the gravest of crimes.

5. That the present Democratic administration has
far exceeded our worst apprehensions In its measure-
less subserviency to the exactions of a sectional Inter-
est, as especially evinced in its desperate exertions to
force the Infamous Lecompton constitution upon the
protesting people of Kansas; in construing the per-

i86o] Letter of Acceptance 17

sonal relation between master and servant to involve
an unqualified property in persons; In its attempted
enforcement everywhere, on land and sea, through the
intervention of Congress and of the Federal courts, of
the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and
in its general and unvarying abuse of the power In-
trusted to It by a confiding people.

6. That the people justly view with alarm the reck-
less extravagance which pervades every department
of the Federal Government; that a return to rigid
economy and accountability is Indispensable to arrest
the systematic plunder of the public treasur}^ by fa-
vored partizans; while the recent startling develop-
ments of frauds and corruptions at the Federal me-
tropolis show that an entire change of administration
is imperatively demanded.

7. That the new dogma that the Constitution, of
its own force, carries slavery into any or all of the
Territories of the United States, is a dangerous politi-
cal heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of
that instrument itself, with contemporaneous expo-
sition, and with legislative and judicial precedent; is
revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the
peace and harmony of the country.

8. That the normal condition of all the territory of
the United States is that of freedom ; that as our Re-
publican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in
all our national territory, ordained that " no person
should be deprived of life, liberty, or property with-
out due process of law," it becomes our duty, by
legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to

iS Abraham Lincoln [May 25

maintain this provision of the Constitution against all
attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of
Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any indi-
viduals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Terri-
tory of the United States.

9. That we brand the recent reopening of the Afri-
can slave-trade, under the cover of our national flag,
aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime
against humanity and a burning shame to our country
and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt
and efficient measures for the total and final suppres-
sion of that execrable traffic.

10. That in the recent vetoes, by their Federal
governors, of the acts of the legislatures of Kansas
and Nebraska prohibiting slavery in those Territories,
we find a practical illustration of the boasted Demo-
cratic principle of non-intervention and popular
sovereignty embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill,
and a demonstration of the deception and fraud in-
volved therein.

11. That Kansas should, of right, be immediately
admitted as a State under the constitution recently
formed and adopted by her people, and accepted by
the House of Representatives.

12. That while providing revenue for the support
of the General Government by duties upon imports,
sound policy requires such an adjustment of these im-
posts as to encourage the development of the indus-
trial interests of the whole country; and we commend
that policy of national exchanges which secures to the
working-men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerat-

i860] Letter of Acceptance 19

ing prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an ade-
quate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and
to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.

13. That we protest against any sale or alienation
to others of the public lands held by actual settlers,
and against any view of the free-homestead policy
which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants for
public bounty; and we demand the passage by Con-
gress of the complete and satisfactory homestead
measure which has already passed the House.

14. That the national Republican party is opposed
to any change in our naturalization laws, or any State
legislation by which the rights of citizenship hitherto
accorded to immigrants from foreign lands shall be
abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full
and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of
citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home
and abroad.

15. That appropriations by Congress for river and
harbor improvements of a national character, required
for the accommodation and security of an existing
commerce, are authorized by the Constitution and
justified by the obligation of government to protect
the lives and property of its citizens.

16. That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean is im-
peratively demanded by the interests of the whole
country; that the Federal Government ought to ren-
der immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and
that, as preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail
should be promptly established.

17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive

20 Abraham Lincoln [May 28

principles and views, we invite the cooperation of all
citizens, however differing on other questions, who
substantially agree with us in their affirmance and sup-
port.

Letter to E. B. Washburne

Springfield, Illinois, May 26, i860.
My dear Sir: I have several letters from you
w^ritten since the nomination, but till now^ have
found no moment to say a w^ord by v\^ay of an-
swer. Of course I am glad that the nomina-
tion is w^ell received by our friends, and I sin-
cerely thank you for so informing me. So far
as I can learn, the nominations start w^ell every-
where; and, if they get no back-set, it would
seem as if they are going through. I hope you
will write often ; and as you write more rapidly
than I do, don't make your letters so short as
mine.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to S. P. Chase.

Springfield, Illinois, May 26, i860.
My dear Sir: It gave me great pleasure to
receive yours mistakenly dated May 17. Hold-
ing myself the humblest of all whose names were
before the convention, I feel in especial need of
the assistance of all ; and I am glad — very glad
— of the indication that you stand ready. It is
a great consolation that so nearly all — all except
Mr. Bates and Mr. Clay, I believe — of those

i860] Letter to Hay craft 21

distinguished and able men are already in high
position to do service in the common cause.
Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN.

*Letter to C. B. Smith

Springfield, Illinois, May 26, i860.

My dear Sir: Yours of the 21st, was duly
received; but I have found no time until now,
to say a word in the way of answer. I am in-
deed, much indebted to Indiana; and, as my
home friends tell me, much to you personally.
Your saying you no longer consider Iowa a
doubtful State is very gratifying. The thing
starts well everywhere — too well, I almost fear,
to last. But we are in, and stick or go through,
must be the word.

Let me hear from Indiana occasionally.
Your friend, as ever, A. LINCOLN.

* Letter to Samuel Haycraft

Springfield, Illinois, May 28, i860.
Dear Sir: Your recent letter, without date,
is received. Also the copy of your speech on
the contemplated Daniel Boone Monument,
which I have not yet had time to read. In the
main you are right about my history. My father
was Thomas Lincoln, and Mrs. Sally Johnston
was his second wife. You are mistaken about
my mother. Her maiden name was Nancy

22 Abraham Lincoln [June i

Hanks. I was not born at Elizabethtown, but
my mother's first child, a daughter, two years
older than myself, and now long since deceased,
was. I was born February 12, 1809, ^^^^ where
Hogginsville (Hodgensville) now is, then in
Hardin County. I do not think I ever saw you,
though I very well know who you are — so well
that I recognized your handwriting, on opening
your letter, before I saw the signature. My rec-
ollection is that Ben Helm was first clerk, that
you succeeded him, that Jack Thomas and Wil-
liam Farleigh graduated in the same office, and
that your handwritings were all very similar.
Am I right?

My father has been dead near ten years; but
my step-mother, (Mrs. Johnston,) is still living.

I am really very glad of your letter, and shall
be pleased to receive another at any time.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Form of Reply to a Numerous Class of
Letters in the Campaign of i860. —
[June?] i860

(Doctrine.)

Springfield, Illinois, , i860.

Dear Sir: Your letter to Mr. Lincoln of
, and by which you seek to obtain his opin-
ions on certain political points, has been received
by him. He has received others of a similar

i86o] Reply Form 23

character, but he also has a greater number of
the exactly opposite character. The latter class
beseech him to write nothing whatever upon any
point of political doctrine. They say his posi-
tions were well known when he was nominated,
and that he must not now embarrass the canvass
by undertaking to shift or modify them. He re-
grets that he cannot oblige all, but you perceive
it is impossible for him to do so.

Yours, etc., Jno. G. NiCOLAY.

24 Abraham Lincoln [June i

Short Autobiography written at the Re-
quest OF A Friend to use in preparing a
Popular Campaign Biography in the
Election of i860— June [i?] i860

ABRAHAM LINCOLN was born Feb-
ruary 12, 1809, then in Hardin, now in
the more recently formed county of La
Rue, Kentucky. His father, Thomas, and
grandfather, Abraham, were born in Rocking-
ham County, Virginia, whither their ancestors
had come from Berks County, Pennsylvania.
His lineage has been traced no farther back
than this. The family were originally Quakers,
though in later times they have fallen away
from the peculiar habits of that people. The
grandfather, Abraham, had four brothers —
Isaac, Jacob, John, and Thomas. So far as
known, the descendants of Jacob and John are
still in Virginia. Isaac went to a place near
where Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennes-
see join ; and his descendants are in that region.
Thomas came to Kentucky, and after many years
died there, whence his descendants went to Mis-
souri. Abraham, grandfather of the subject of
this sketch, came to Kentucky, and was killed by

I widow,
dest son,
e in life,
Illinois,
:veral of
Dnd son,
place on
mty, In-
n or his
;t sister,
e of her
3recken<
d sister,
and her
cky, but
1 them,
the pres-
her, and
er, even
boy, and
le never

0 bung-
he was
nd with

1 of the
entucky,
year, he

present
born in

24 ' Abraham Lincoln [June

Short Autobiography written at the Re-
quest OF A Friend to use in preparing a
Popular Campaign Biography in the
Election of i860— June [i?] i860

JOOT:

^v ^?i<-^^a<^,<z/>'«>i/ *-^~" ^"^ ^2-u^ /4u2-.<n^

Lincoln's Letter of Acceptance, May 23, i860.

Facsimile of the Original Letter to Hon. George Ashmun, President of the
Republican National Convention, Dated Springfield, May 23, i860.

24'

Short

QUES:
POPU

Elec

Rue, I

grandfa
ham C(
had CO
His lir
than thi
though
from t\
grandfi
Isaac,
known,
still in
where
see join
Thoma
died th
souri.
this ske

i86o] Autobiography 25

Indians about the year 1784. He left a widow,
three sons, and two daughters. The eldest son,
Mordecai, remained in Kentucky till late in life,
when he removed to Hancock County, Illinois,
where soon after he died, and where several of
his descendants still remain. The second son,
Josiah, removed at an early day to a place on
Blue River, now within Hancock County, In-
diana, but no recent information of him or his
family has been obtained. The eldest sister,
Mary, married Ralph Crume, and some of her
descendants are now known to be in Brecken--
ridge County, Kentucky. The second sister,
Nancy, married William Brumfield, and her
family are not known to have left Kentucky, but
there is no recent information from them.
Thomas, the youngest son, and father of the pres-
ent subject, by the early death of his father, and
very narrow circumstances of his mother, even
in childhood was a wandering laboring-boy, and
grew up literally without education. He never
did more in the way of writing than to bung-
lingly write his own name. Before he was
grown he passed one year as a hired hand with
his uncle Isaac on Watauga, a branch of the
Holston River. Getting back into Kentucky,
and having reached his twenty-eighth year, he
married Nancy Hanks — mother of the present
subject — in the year 1806. She also was born in

26 Abraham Lincoln [June i

Virginia, and relatives of hers of the name of
Hanks, and of other names, now reside in Coles,
in Macon, and in Adams counties, Illinois, and
also in Iowa. The present subject has no brother
or sister of the whole or half blood. He had a
sister, older than himself, who was grown and
married, but died many years ago, leaving no
child ; also a brother, younger than himself, who
died in infancy. Before leaving Kentucky, he
and his sister were sent, for short periods, to
ABC schools, the first kept by Zachariah
Riney, and the second by Caleb Hazel.

At this time his father resided on Knob Creek,
on the road from Bardstown, Kentucky, to
Nashville, Tennessee, at a point three or three
and a half miles south or southwest of Atherton's
Ferry, on the Rolling Fork. From this place
he removed to what is now Spencer County, In-
diana, in the autumn of 1816, Abraham then
being in his eighth year. This removal was
partly on account of slavery, but chiefly on ac-
count of the difficulty in land titles in Kentucky.
He settled in an unbroken forest, and the clear-
ing away of surplus wood was the great task
ahead. Abraham, though very young, was large
of his age, and had an ax put into his hands at
once; and from that till within his twenty-third
year he was almost constantly handling that most
useful instrument — less, of course, in plowing

i86o] Autobiography 27

and harvesting seasons. At this place Abraham
took an early start as a hunter, which was never
much improved afterward. A few days before
the completion of his eighth year, in the absence
of his father, a flock of wild turkeys approached
the new log cabin, and Abraham with a rifle-
gun, standing inside, shot through a crack and
killed one of them. He has never since pulled
a trigger on any larger game. In the autumn of
1818 his mother died; and a year afterward his
father married Mrs. Sally Johnston, at Eliza-
bethtown, Kentucky, a widow with three child-
ren of her first marriage. She proved a good
and kind mother to Abraham, and is still living
in Coles County, Illinois. There were no
children of this second marriage. His father's
residence continued at the same place in Indi-
ana till 1830. While here Abraham went to
ABC schools by littles, kept successively by

Andrew Crawford, Sweeney, and Azel W.

Dorsey. He does not remember any other.
The family of Mr. Dorsey now resides in Schuy-
ler County, Illinois. Abraham now thinks that
the aggregate of all his schooling did not
amount to one year. He was never in a college
or academy as a student, and never inside of a
college or academy building till since he had a
law license. What he has in the way of educa-
tion he has picked up. After he was twenty-

28 Abraham Lincoln [June i

three and had separated from his father, he
studied English grammar — imperfectly, of
course, but so as to speak and write as well as he
now does. He studied and nearly mastered the
six books of Euclid since he was a member of
Congress. He regrets his want of education,
and does what he can to supply the want. In his
tenth year he was kicked by a horse, and ap-
parently killed for a time. When he was nine-
teen, still residing in Indiana, he made his first
trip upon a flatboat to New Orleans. He was a
hired hand merely, and he and a son of the
owner, without other assistance, made the trip.
The nature of part of the "cargo-load," as it was
called, made it necessary for them to linger and
trade along the sugar-coast; and one night they
were attacked by seven negroes with intent to
kill and rob them. They were hurt some in the
melee, but succeeded in driving the negroes
from the boat, and then ''cut cable," "weighed
anchor," and left.

March i, 1830, Abraham having just com-
pleted his twenty-first year, his father and
family, with the families of the two daughters
and sons-in-law of his stepmother, left the old
homestead in Indiana and came to Illinois.
Their mode of conveyance was wagons drawn
by ox-teams, and Abraham drove one of the
teams. They reached the county of Macon, and

i860] Autobiography 29

stopped there some time within the same month
of March. His father and family settled a new
place on the north side of the Sangamon River,
at the junction of the timberland and prairie,
about ten miles westerly from Decatur. Here
they built a log cabin, into which they removed,
and made sufficient of rails to fence ten acres of
ground, fenced and broke the ground, and raised
a crop of sown corn upon it the same year.
These are, or are supposed to be, the rails about
which so much is being said just now, though
these are far from being the first or only rails
ever made by Abraham.

The sons-in-law were temporarily settled in
other places in the county. In the autumn all
hands were greatly afflicted with ague and fever,
to which they had not been used, and by which
they were greatly discouraged, so much so that
they determined on leaving the county. They
remained, however, through the succeeding win-
ter, which was the winter of the very celebrated
"deep snow" of Illinois. During that winter
Abraham, together with his stepmother's son,
John D. Johnston, and John Hanks, yet residing
in Macon County, hired themselves to Denton
Ofifutt to take a flatboat from Beardstown, Il-
linois, to New Orleans; and for that purpose
were to join him — Offutt — at Springfield, Illi-
nois, so soon as the snow should go off. When

30 Abraham Lincoln U^^^ '

it did go off, which was about the first of March,
1 83 1, the county was so flooded as to make
traveling by land impracticable; to obviate
which difficulty they purchased a large canoe,
and came down the Sangamon River in it. This
is the time and the manner of Abraham's first
entrance into Sangamon County. They found
Offutt at Springfield, but learned from him that
he had failed in getting a boat at Beardstown.
This led to their hiring themselves to him for
twelve dollars per month each, and getting the
timber out of the trees and building a boat at
Old Sangamon town on the Sangamon River,
seven miles northwest of Springfield, which
boat they took to New Orleans, substantially
upon the old contract.

During this boat-enterprise acquaintance with
Offutt, who was previously an entire stranger,
he conceived a liking for Abraham, and believ-
ing he could turn him to account, he contracted
with him to act as clerk for him, on his return
from New Orleans, in charge of a store and mill
at New Salem, then in Sangamon, now in
Menard County. Hanks had not gone to New
Orleans, but having a family, and being likely
to be detained from home longer than at first
expected, had turned back from St. Louis. He
is the same John Hanks who now engineers the
"rail enterprise" at Decatur, and is a first cousin

i86oj Autobiography 31

to Abraham's mother. Abraham's father, with
his own family and others mentioned, had, in
pursuance of their intention, removed from
Macon to Coles County. John D. Johnston, the
stepmother's son, went to them, and Abraham
stopped indefinitely and for the first time, as it
were, by himself at New Salem, before men-
tioned. This was in July, 1 83 1. Here he rapid-
ly made acquaintances and friends. In less than
a year Offutt's business was failing — had almost
failed — when the Black Hawk war of 1832
broke out. Abraham joined a volunteer com-
pany, and, to his own surprise, was elected cap-
tain of it. He says he has not since had any
success in life which gave him so much satisfac-
tion. He went to the campaign, served near
three months, met the ordinary hardships of
such an expedition, but was in no battle. He
now owns, in Iowa, the land upon which his
own warrants for the service were located. Re-
turning from the campaign, and encouraged by
his great popularity among his immediate
neighbors, he the same year ran for the legisla-
ture, and was beaten, — his own precinct, how-
ever, casting its votes 277 for and 7 against him —
and that, too, while he was an avowed Clay man,
and the precinct the autumn afterward giving a
majority of 115 to General Jackson over Mr.
Clay. This was the only time Abraham was

32 Abraham Lincoln [June i

ever beaten on a direct vote of the people. He
was now without means and out of business, but
was anxious to remain with his friends who had
treated him with so much generosity, especially
as he had nothing elsewhere to go to. He
studied what he should do — thought of learning
the blacksmith trade — thought of trying to study
law — rather thought he could not succeed at
that without a better education. Before long,
strangely enough, a man offered to sell, and did
sell, to Abraham and another as poor as himself,
an old stock of goods, upon credit. They opened
as merchants; and he says that was the store. Of
course they did nothing but get deeper and
deeper in debt. He was appointed post-
master at New Salem — the office being too in-
significant to make his politics an objection. The
store winked out. The surveyor of Sangamon
offered to depute to Abraham that portion of
his work which was within his part of the
county. He accepted, procured a compass and
chain, studied Flint and Gibson a little, and
went at it. This procured bread, and kept soul
and body together. The election of 1834 came,
and he was then elected to the legislature by the
highest vote cast for any candidate. Major John
T. Stuart, then in full practice of the law, was
also elected. During the canvass, in a private
conversation he encouraged Abraham [to] study

i86o] Autobiography 33

law. After the election he borrowed books of
Stuart, took them home with him, and went at
it in good earnest. He studied with nobody.
He still mixed in the surveying to pay board
and clothing bills. When the legislature met,
the law-books were dropped, but were taken up
again at the end of the session. He was re-
elected in 1836, 1838, and 1840. In the autumn
of 1836 he obtained a law license, and on April
15, 1837, removed to Springfield, and com-
menced the practice — his old friend Stuart
taking him into partnership. March 3, 1837,
by a protest entered upon the "Illinois House
Journal" of that date, at pages 817 and 818,
Abraham, with Dan Stone, another representa-
tive of Sangamon, briefly defined his position
on the slavery question ; and so far as it goes, it
was then the same that it is now. The protest
is as follows :

Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery
having passed both branches of the General Assembly
at Its present session, the undersigned hereby protest
against the passage of the same.

They believe that the Institution of slavery is
founded on both Injustice and bad policy, but that
the promulgation of Abolition doctrines tends rather
to increase than abate Its evils.

They believe that the Congress of the United
States has no power under the Constitution to Inter-

34 Abraham Lincoln [June i

fere with the institution of slavery in the different
States.

They believe that the Congress of the United
States has the power, under the Constitution, to
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but that
the power ought not to be exercised unless at the re-
quest of the people of the District.

The difference between these opinions and those
contained in the above resolutions is their reason for
entering this protest.

Dan Stone,
A. Lincoln,

Representatives from the County of Sangamon.

In 1838 and 1840, Mr. Lincoln's party voted
for him as Speaker, but being in the minority
he was not elected. After 1840 he declined a
reelection to the legislature. He was on the
Harrison electoral ticket in 1840, and on that
of Clay in 1844, and spent much time and labor
in both those canvasses. In November, 1842,
he was married to Mary, daughter of Robert S.
Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky. They have
three living children, all sons, one born in 1843,
one in 1850, and one in 1853. They lost one,
who was born in 1846.

In 1846 he was elected to the lower House of
Congress, and served one term only, commenc-
ing in December, 1847, and ending with the
inauguration of General Taylor, in March,

i86o] Autobiography 35

1849. All the battles of the Mexican war had
been fought before Mr. Lincoln took his seat in
Congress, but the American army was still in
Mexico, and the treaty of peace was not fully
and formally ratified till the June afterward.
Much has been said of his course in Congress
in regard to this war. A careful examination
of the "Journal" and "Congressional Globe"
shows that he voted for all the supply measures
that came up, and for all the measures in any
way favorable to the officers, soldiers, and their
families, who conducted the war through : with
the exception that some of these measures passed
without yeas and nays, leaving no record as to
how particular men voted. The "Journal" and
"Globe" also show him voting that the war was
unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by
the President of the United States. This is the
language of Mr. Ashmun's amendment, for
which Mr. Lincoln and nearly or quite all other
Whigs of the House of Representatives voted.
Mr. Lincoln's reasons for the opinion ex-
pressed by this vote were briefly that the Presi-
dent had sent General Taylor into an inhabited
part of the country belonging to Mexico, and
not to the United States, and thereby had pro-
voked the first act of hostility, in fact the com-
mencement of the war; that the place, being the
country bordering on the east bank of the Rio

36 Abraham Lincoln [June i

Grande, was inhabited by native Mexicans,
born there under the Mexican government, and
had never submitted to, nor been conquered by,
Texas or the United States, nor transferred to
either by treaty; that although Texas claimed
the Rio Grande as her boundary, Mexico had
never recognized it, and neither Texas nor the
United States had ever enforced it; that there
was a broad desert between that and the country
over which Texas had actual control; that the
country where hostilities commenced, having
once belonged to Mexico, must remain so until
it was somehow legally transferred, which had
never been done.

Mr. Lincon thought the act of sending an
armed force among the Mexicans was unneces-
sary, inasmuch as Mexico was in no way molest-
ing or menacing the United States or the people
thereof; and that it was unconstitutional, be-
cause the power of levying war is vested in Con-
gress, and not in the President. He thought the
principal motive for the actwas to divert public
attention from the surrender of "Fifty-four,
forty, or fight" to Great Britain, on the Oregon
boundary question.

Mr. Lincoln was not a candidate for reelec-
tion. This was determined upon and declared
before he went to Washington, in accordance
with an understanding among Whig friends, by

i860] Autobiography 37

which Colonel Hardin and Colonel Baker had
each previously served a single term in this
same district.

In 1848, during his term in Congress, he ad-
vocated General Taylor's nomination for the
presidency, in opposition to all others, and also
took an active part for his election after his
nomination, speaking a few^ times in Maryland,
near Washington, several times in Massachu-
setts, and canvassing quite fully his own district
in Illinois, which was followed by a majority in
the district of over 1,500 for General Taylor.

Upon his return from Congress he went to the
practice of the law with greater earnestness than
ever before. In 1852 he was upon the Scott
electoral ticket, and did something in the way
of canvassing, but owing to the hopelessness of
the cause in Illinois he did less than in previous
presidential canvasses.

In 1854 his profession had almost superseded
the thought of politics in his mind, when the re-
peal of the Missouri Compromise aroused him
as he had never been before.

In the autumn of that year he took the stump
with no broader practical aim or object than
to secure, if possible, the reelection of Hon.
Richard Yates to Congress. His speeches at
once attracted a more marked attention than
they had ever before done. As the canvass pro-

38 Abraham Lincoln [June 4

ceeded he was drawn to dififerent parts of the
State outside of Mr. Yates's district. He did
not abandon the law, but gave his attention by-
turns to that and politics. The State agricul-
tural fair was at Springfield that year, and
Douglas was announced to speak there.

In the canvass of 1856 Mr. Lincoln made over
fifty speeches, no one of which, so far as he re-
members, was put in print. One of them was
made at Galena, but Mr. Lincoln has no recol-
lection of any part of it being printed; nor does
he remember whether in that speech he said
anything about a Supreme Court decision. He
may have spoken upon that subject, and some of
the newspapers may have reported him as say-
ing what is now ascribed to him; but he thinks
he could not have expressed himself as repre-
sented.

*Letter to George Ashmun

Springfield, Illinois, June 4, i860.
*My dear Sir: It seems as if the question
whether my first name is "Abraham" or
"Abram'' will never be settled. It is ''Abra-
ham," and if the letter of acceptance is not yet
in print, you may, if you think fit, have my sig-
nature thereto printed "Abraham Lincoln."
Exercise your judgment about this.

Yours as ever, A. Lincoln.

i860] Letter to Haycraft 39

*Letter to Samuel Haycraft

(Prwate.)
Springfield, Illinois, June 4, i860.

Dear Sir: Your second letter, dated May
31st, is received. You suggest that a visit to
the place of my nativity might be pleasant to
me. Indeed it would. But would it be safe?
Would not the people lynch me?

The place on Knob Creek, mentioned by Mr.
Read, I remember very well ; but I was not born
there. As my parents have told me, I was born
on Nolin, very much nearer Hodgen's Mill than
the Knob Creek place is. My earliest recollec-
tion, however, is of the Knob Creek place. Like
you, I belonged to the Whig party from its
origin to its close. I never belonged to the
American party organization; nor ever to a
party called a Union party, though I hope I
neither am, nor ever have been, less devoted to
the Union than yourself or any other patriotic
man.

It may not be altogether without interest to
let you know that my wife is a daughter of the
late Robert S. Todd, of Lexington, Ky., and
that a half-sister of hers is the wife of Ben
Hardin Helm, born and raised at your town,
but residing at Louisville now. as I believe.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN,

fo Abraham Lincoln [June 19

AUTC»IOGRAPHIC\L MEM(mAXDL~M GHTX TO

Artist Hicks, June 14, i860
I was bom February 12, 1809, i^ then Hardin
County, Kentucky, at a point within the now
county of La Rue. a mile, or a mile and a half,
from where Hodgen's mill now is. My parents
being dead, and my own memory not sending, I
know no means of identifying the precise local-
ity. It was on Xolin Creek,

A. Lincoln.

♦Letter to S.^muel G-\lloway

(Especially confidential.)

S?]CXGFizLi;. Illixois, June 19, i860.
3/y dear Sir: Your very kind letter of the
15th is received. Messrs. Follet, Foster & Co.'s
Life of me is not by my authority; and I have
scarcely been so much astounded by anything,
as their public announcement that it is author-
ized by me. They have fallen into some strange
misunderstanding. I certainly knew they con-
templated publishing a biography, and I cer-
tainly did not object to their doing so, upon their
o=:rn responsibility. I even took pains to facili-
tate them. But at the same time, I made myself
tiresome, if not hoarse, with repeating to Mr.
Howard, their only agent seen by me, my pro-
test that I authorized nothing — ^would be re-

i86o] Letter to Galloway 41

sponsible for nothing. How they could so mis-
understand me, passes comprehension. As a
matter, u- holly my oun, I would authorize no
biography, without time and opportunity to
carefully examine and consider every word of
it; and, in this case, in the nature of things, I
can have no such time and opportunity. But,
in my present position, when, by the lessons
of the past, and the united voice of all dis-
creet friends, I can neither write nor speak a
word for the public, how dare I to send forth,
by my authorit\^, a volume of hundreds of pages,
for adversaries to make points upon without
end? Were I to do so, the Convention would
have a right to re-assemble, and substitute an-
other name for mine.

For these reasons, I would not look at the
proof sheets. I am determined to maintain the
position of truly saying I never saw the proof
sheets, or any part of their work, before its pub-
lication.

Now, do not mistake me. I feel great kind-
ness for Messrs. F., F. & Co. — do not think
they have intentionally done wrong. There
may be nothing wrong in their proposed book.
I sincerely hope there will not. I barely sug-
gest that you, or any of the friends there, on
the party account, look it over, and exclude
what you may think would embarrass the party,

Abraham Lincoln [July 4

bearing in mind, at all times, that I authorize
nothing — will be responsible for nothing.
Your friend as ever, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to William Cullen Bryant

Springfield, Illinois, June 28, i860.
My dear Sir: Please accept my thanks for
the honor done me by your letter of the i6th.
I appreciate the danger against which you
would guard me, nor am I wanting in the pur-
pose to avoid it. I thank you for the additional
strength your words give me to maintain that
purpose. Your friend and servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to A. G. Henry

Springfield, Illinois, July 4, i860.

My dear Doctor: Your very agreeable
letter of May 15th was received three days ago.
We are just now receiving the first sprinkling
of your Oregon election returns — not enough,
I think, to indicate the result. We should be
too happy if both Logan and Baker should
triumph.

Long before this you have learned who was
nominated at Chicago. We know not what a
day may bring forth, but to-day it looks as if
the Chicago ticket will be elected. I think the
chances were more than equal that we could

i86o] Letter to Henry 43

have beaten the Democracy united. Divided as
it is, its chance appears indeed very slim. But
great is Democracy in resources; and it may yet
give its fortunes a turn. It is under great temp-
tation to do something; but what can it do which
was not thought of, and found impracticable, at
Charleston and Baltimore? The signs now are
that Douglas and Breckinridge will each have
a ticket in every State. They are driven to this
to keep up their bombastic claims of nationality,
and to avoid the charge of sectionalism which
they have so much lavished upon us.

It is an amusing fact, after all Douglas has
said about nationality and sectionalism, that I
had more votes from the southern section at
Chicago than he had at Baltimore. In fact,
there was more of the southern section repre-
sented at Chicago than in the Douglas rump
concern at Baltimore!

Our boy, in his tenth year (the baby when
you left), has just had a hard and tedious spell
of scarlet fever, and he is not yet beyond all
danger. I have a headache and a sore throat
upon me now, inducing me to suspect that I
have an inferior type of the same thing.

Our eldest boy, Bob, has been away from us
nearly a year at school, and will enter Harvard
University this month. He promises very well,
considering we never controlled him much.

44 Abraham Lincoln [July 21

Write again when you receive this. Mary joins
in sending our kindest regards to Mrs. H., your-
self, and all the family. Your friend as ever,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Hannibal Hamlin

Springfield, Illinois, July i8, i860.
My dear Sir: It appears to me that you and
I ought to be acquainted, and accordingly I
write this as a sort of introduction of myself to
you. You first entered the Senate during the
single term I was a member of the House of
Representatives, but I have no recollection that
we were introduced. I shall be pleased to re-
ceive a line from you.

The prospect of Republican success now ap-
pears very flattering, so far as I can perceive.
Do you see anything to the contrary?
Yours truly,

A Lincoln.

Letter to Cassius M. Clay

Springfield, Illinois, July 20, i860.
My dear Sir: I see by the papers, and also
learn from Mr. Nicolay, who saw you at Terre
Haute, that you are filling a list of speaking-
appointments in Indiana. I sincerely thank you
for this, and I shall be still further obliged if
you will, at the close of the tour, drop me a

i86o] Letter to Jonas 45

line giving your impressions of our prospects
in that State.

Still more will you oblige me if you will allow
me to make a list of appointments in our State,
commencing, say, at Marshall, in Clark County,
and thence south and west along over the Wa-
bash and Ohio River border.

In passing let me say that at Rockport you
will be in the county within which I was
brought up from my eighth year, having left
Kentucky at that point of my life.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to A. Jonas

(Confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, July 21, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 20th is received.
I suppose as good or even better men that I may
have been in American or Know-nothing lodges;
but, in point of fact, I never was in one at
Quincy or elsewhere. I was never in Quincy
but one day and two nights while Know-nothing
lodges were in existence, and you were with me
that day and both those nights. I had never
been there before in my life, and never after-
ward, till the joint debate with Douglas in 1858.
It was in 1854 when I spoke in some hall there,
and after the speaking, you, with others, took

46 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 10

me to an oyster-saloon, passed an hour there,
and you walked with me to, and parted with me
at, the Quincy House, quite late at night. I left
by stage for Naples before daylight in the morn-
ing, having come in by the same route after
dark the evening previous to the speaking, when
I found you waiting at the Quincy House to
meet me. A few days after I was there,
Richardson, as I understood, started this same
story about my having been in a Know-nothing
lodge. When I heard of the charge as I did
soon after, I taxed my recollection for some in-
cident which could have suggested it; and I re-
membered that on parting with you the last
night, I went to the office of the hotel to take
my stage-passage for the morning, was told that
no stage-office for that line was kept there, and
that I must see the driver before retiring, to in-
sure his calling for me in the morning; and a
servant was sent with me to find the driver, who,
after taking me a square or two, stopped me, and
stepped perhaps a dozen steps farther, and in
my hearing called to some one, who answered
him, apparently from the upper part of a build-
ing, and promised to call with the stage for me
at the Quincy House. I returned, and went to
bed, and before day the stage called and took
me. This is all.

That I never was in a Know-nothing lodge in

iS6o] Letter to Clay 47

Quincy, I should expect could be easily proved
by respectable men who were always in the
lodges and never saw me there. An affidavit of
one or two such would put the matter at rest.

And now a word of caution. Our adversa-
ries think they can gain a point if they could
force me to openly deny the charge, by which
some degree of offense would be given to the
Americans. For this reason it must not publicly
appear that I am paying any attention to the
charge. Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to C. B. Smith

Springfield, August lo, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 20th was duly
received, and for which I sincerely thank you.
From present appearances we might succeed in
the general result, without Indiana; but with it,
failure is scarcely possible. Therefore put in
your best efforts. I see by the despatches that
Mr. Clay had a rousing meeting at Vincennes.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to Cassius M. Clay

Springfield, Illinois, August 10, i860.
My dear Sir: Your very kind letter of the
6th w^as received yesterday. It so happened that
our State Central Committee was in session here

48 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 14

at the time; and, thinking it proper to do so, I
submitted the letter to them. They were de-
lighted with the assurance of having your as-
sistance. For what appear good reasons, they,
however, propose a change in the program,
starting you at the same place (Marshall in
Clark County), and thence northward. This
change, I suppose, will be agreeable to you, as
it will give you larger audiences, and much
easier travel — nearly all being by railroad.
They will be governed by your time, and when
they shall have fully designated the places, you
will be duly notified.

As to the inaugural, I have not yet com-
menced getting it up ; while it affords me great
pleasure to be able to say the cliques have not
yet commenced upon me.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to T. A. Cheney

Springfield, Illinois, August 14, i860.
Dear Sir: Yours of the loth is received, and
for which I thank you. I would cheerfully
answer your questions in regard to the fugitive-
slave law were it not that I consider it would
be both imprudent and contrary to the reason-
able expectation of my friends for me to write
or speak anything upon doctrinal points now.
Besides this, my published speeches contain

i86o] Remarks at Springfield 49

nearly all I could willingly say. Justice and
fairness to all, is the utmost I have said, or will
say. Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Remarks at Springfield, Illinois, August
14, i860.

My Fellow-citizens: I appear among you
upon this occasion with no intention of making
a speech.

It has been my purpose since I have been
placed in my present position to make no
speeches. This assemblage having been drawn
together at the place of my residence, it ap-
peared to be the wish of those constituting this
vast assemby to see me; and it is certainly my
wish to see all of you. I appear upon the
ground here at this time only for the purpose of
affording myself the best opportunity of seeing
you, and enabling you to see me.

I confess with gratitude, be it understood, that
I did not suppose my appearance among you
would create the tumult which I now witness.
I am profoundly grateful for this manifesta-
tion of your feelings. I am grateful, because it
is a tribute such as can be paid to no man as a
man; it is the evidence that four years from
this time you will give a like manifestation to
the next man who is the representative of the

50 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 17

truth on the questions that now agitate the pub-
lic; and it is because you will then fight for this
cause as you do now, or with even greater ardor
than now, though I be dead and gone, that I
most profoundly and sincerely thank you.

Having said this much, allow me now to say
that it is my wish that you will hear this public
discussion by others of our friends who are
present for the purpose of addressing you, and
that you will kindly let me be silent.

Letter to John B. Fry

Springfield, Illinois, August 15, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 9th, inclosing
the letter of Hon. John Minor Botts, was duly
received. The latter is herewith returned ac-
cording to your request. It contains one of the
many assurances I receive from the South, that
in no probable event will there be any very for-
midable effort to break up the Union. The
people of the South have too much of good
sense and good temper to attempt the ruin of
the government rather than see it administered
as it was administered by the men who made it.
At least so I hope and believe. I thank you both
for your own letter and a sight of that of Mr.
Botts.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

i860] Letter to Weed 51

*Letter to Samuel Haycraft

Springfield, Illinois, August i6, i860.
My dear Sir: A correspondent of the New
York Herald, who was here a week ago, writing
to that paper, represents me as saying I had
been invited to visit Kentucky, but that I sus-
pected it was a trap to inveigle me into Ken-
tucky in order to do violence to me. This is
wholly a mistake. I said no such thing. I do
not remember, but possibly I did mention my
correspondence with you. But very certainly I
was not guilty of stating, or insinuating, a sus-
picion of any intended violence, deception or
other wrong, against me, by you or any other
Kentuckian. Thinking the Herald correspon-
dence might fall under your eye, I think it due
to myself to enter my protest against the cor-
rectness of this part of it. I scarcely think the
correspondent was malicious, but rather that he
misunderstood what was said.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to Thurlow Weed

Springfield, Illinois, August 17, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 13th was re-
ceived this morning. Douglas is managing the
Bell element with great adroitness. He has his
men in Kentucky to vote for the Bell candidate,

52 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 27

producing a result which has badly alarmed and
damaged Breckinridge, and at the same time
has induced the Bell men to suppose that Bell
will certainly be President if they can keep a
few of the Northern States away from us by
throwing them to Douglas. But you, better than
I, understand all this.

I think there will be the most extraordinary
effort ever made to carry New York for Doug-
las. You and all others who write me from your
State think the effort cannot succeed, and I hope
you are right. Still it will require close watch-
ing and great efforts on the other side.

Herewith I send you a copy of a letter written
at New York, which sufficiently explains itself,
and which may or may not give you a valuable
hint. You have seen that Bell tickets have been
put on the track both here and in Indiana. In
both cases the object has been, I think, the same
as the Hunt movement in New York — to throw
States to Douglas. In our State we know the
thing is engineered by Douglas men, and we
do not believe they can make a great deal out
of it. Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

*Letter to Samuel Haycraft

Springfield, Illinois, August 23, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 19th just re-
ceived. I now fear I may have given you some

i860] Letter to Fisher 53

uneasiness by my last letter. I did not mean to
intimate that I had, to any extent, been in-
volved or embarrassed by you; nor yet to draw
from you anything to relieve myself from diffi-
culty. My only object was to assure you that I
had not, as represented by the Herald cor-
respondent, charged you with an attempt to in-
veigle me into Kentucky to do me violence. I
believe no such thing of you or of Kentuckians
generally; and I dislike to be represented to
them as slandering them in that way.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to C. H. Fisher.

Springfield, Illinois, August 27, i860.
Dear Sir: Your second note, inclosing the
supposed speech of Mr. Dallas to Lord Broug-
ham, is received. I have read the speech quite
through, together with the real author's intro-
ductory and closing remarks. I have also looked
through the long preface of the book to-day.
Both seem to be well written, and contain many
things with which I could agree, and some with
which I could not. A specimen of the latter is
the declaration, in the closing remarks upon
the "speech," that the institution is a "necessity"
imposed on us by the negro race. That the go-
ing many thousand miles, seizing a set of sav-

54 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 9

ages, bringing them here, and making slaves of
them is a necessity imposed on us by them
involves a species of logic to which my mind
v^ill scarcely assent

{Apparently unfinished.)

*Letter to John

(Private.)
Springfield, Illinois, August 31, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 27th is duly re-
ceived. It consists almost exclusively of a his-
torical detail of some local troubles, among
some of our friends in Pennsylvania; and I sup-
pose its object is to guard me against forming

a prejudice against Mr. McC . I have not

heard near so much upon that subject as you
probably suppose; and I am slow to listen to
criminations among friends, and never expose
their quarrels on either side. My sincere wish
is that both sides will allow by-gones to be by-
gones, and look to the present and future only.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to Hannibal Hamlin.

Springfield, Illinois, September 4, i860.
My dear Sir: I am annoyed some by a letter
from a friend in Chicago, in which the follow-
ing passage occurs: "Hamlin has written Col-
fax that two members of Congress will, he fears,

i86o] Letter to Washburne 55

be lost in Maine — the first and sixth districts;
and that Washburne's majority for governor
will not exceed six thousand."

I had heard something like this six weeks ago,
but had been assured since that it was not so.
Your secretary of state, — Mr. Smith, I think, — ■
whom you introduced to me by letter, gave this
assurance; more recently, Mr. Fessenden, our
candidate for Congress in one of those districts,
wrote a relative here that his election was sure
by at least five thousand, and that Washburne's
majority would be from 14,000 to 17,000; and
still later, Mr. Fogg, of New Hampshire, now
at New York serving on a national committee,
wrote me that we were having a desperate fight
in Maine, which would end in a splendid vic-
tory for us.

Such a result as you seem to have predicted
in Maine, in your letter to Colfax, would, I fear,
put us on the down-hill track, lose us the State
elections in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and
probably ruin us on the main turn in November.

You must not allow it.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to E. B. Washburne

Springfield, Illinois, September 9, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 5th was received
last evening. I was right glad to see it. It

56 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 22

contains the freshest "posting" which I now
have. It relieved me some from a little anxiety
I had about Maine. Jo Medill, on August 30th,
wrote me that Colfax had a letter from Mr.
Hamlin saying we were in great danger of losing
two members of Congress in Maine, and that
your brother would not have exceeding six
thousand majority for governor. I addressed
you at once, at Galena, asking for your latest
information. As you are at Washington, that
letter you will receive some time after the Maine
election. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to N. Sargent

Springfield, Illinois, September 20, i860.
My dear Sir: Your kind letter of the i6th
was received yesterday; have just time to ac-
knowledge its receipt, and to say I thank you for
it; and that I shall be pleased to hear from
you again whenever it is convenient for you to
write. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to John Chrisman

Springfield, Illinois, September 21, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 13th was duly
received. I have no doubt that you and I are
related. My grandfather's Christian name was

i86o] Letter to Henry 57

''Abraham." He had four brothers — Isaac,
Jacob, John, and Thomas. They were born in
Pennsylvania, and my grandfather, and some,
if not all, the others, in early life removed to
Rockingham County, Virginia. There my
father — named Thomas — was born. From there
my grandfather removed to Kentucky, and was
killed by the Indians about the year 1784. His
brother Thomas, who was my father's uncle,
also removed to Kentucky — to Fayette County,
I think — where, as I understand, he lived and
died. I close by repeating I have no doubt you
and I are related.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to A. G. Henry

Springfield, Illinois, September 22, i860.
Dear Doctor: Yours of July i8th was re-
ceived some time ago. When you wrote you
had not learned the result of the Democratic
conventions at Charleston and Baltimore. With
the two tickets in the field I should think it
possible for our friends to carry Oregon. But
the general result, I think, does not depend upon
Oregon. No one this side of the mountains pre-
tends that any ticket can be elected by the
people, unless it be ours. Hence great efforts
to combine against us are being made, which,
however, as yet have not had much success.

58 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 27

Besides what we see in the newspapers, I have
a good deal of private correspondence; and
without giving details, I will only say it all
looks very favorable to our success.

Make my best respects to Mrs. Henry and the
rest of your famiy.

Your friend, as ever,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to G. Yoke Tams

(Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, September 22, i860.
My dear Sir: Your letter asking me "Are
you in favor of a tariff and protection to Ameri-
can industry?" is received. The convention
which nominated me, by the twelfth plank of
their platform, selected their position on this
question; and I have declared my approval of
the platform, and accepted the nomination.
Now, if I were to publicly shift the position by
adding or subtracting anything, the convention
would have the right, and probably would be
inclined, to displace me as their candidate. And
I feel confident that you, on reflection, would not
wish me to give private assurances to be seen by
some and kept secret from others. I enjoin that
this shall by no means be made public.
Yours respectfully,

A. Lincoln.

i86o] Letter to Harvey 59

Letter to J. M. Brockman

Springfield, Illinois, September 25, i860.
Dear Sir: Yours of the 24th, asking ''the
best mode of obtaining a thorough knowledge
of the law," is received. The mode is very
simple, though laborious and tedious. It is only
to get the books and read and study them care-
fully. Begin with Blackstone's "Commen-
taries," and after reading it carefully through,
say twice, take up Chitty's "Pleadings," Green-
leaf's "Evidence," and Story's "Equity," etc.,
in succession. Work, work, work, is the main
thing. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to J. E. Harvey*

(Private.)
Springfield, III., September 27, i860.
My dear Sir: Yesterday I was gratified by
the receipt of yours of the 22d. There is no
reality in that suspicion about Judge Kelly.
Neither he nor any other man has obtained or
sought such a relation with me.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

1 Kelley was a pioneer of the Pennsylvania iron industry and
an advocate of high tariff. It is supposed that this letter refers
to a report of his seeking a second place on the ticket of i860.

6o Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 2

*Letter to Professor Gardner

Springfield, III., September 28, i860.
Dear Sir: Some specimens of your Soap
have been used at our house and Mrs. L. de-
clares it is a superior article. She at the same
time protests that / have never given sufficient
attention to the "soap question" to be a compe-
tent judge. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to J. H. Reed

Springfield, Illinois, October i, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of September 21st was
received some time ago, but I could not till now
find time to answer it. I never was in McDon-
ough County till 1858. I never said anything
derogatory of Mr. Jefferson in McDonough
County or elsewhere. About three weeks ago,
for the first time in my life did I ever see or
hear the language attributed to me as having
been used toward Mr. Jefferson; and then it
was sent to me, as you now send, in order that
I might say whether it came from me. I never
used any such language at any time. You may
rely on the truth of this, although it is my wish
that you do not publish it.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

i86o] Letter to Harvey 6i

*Letter to J. E. Harvey*

(Private and confidential.)

October 2, i860.
My dear Sir: To comply with your request
to furnish extracts from my tarifif speeches is
simply impossible, because none of those
speeches were published. It was not fashion-
able here in those days to report one's public
speeches. In 1844 I was on the Clay electoral
ticket in this State (/. e., Illinois) and, to the
best of my ability, sustained, together, the tarif]f
of 1842 and the tariff plank of the Clay plat-
form. This could be proven by hundreds — per-
haps thousands — of living witnesses; still it is
not in print, except by inference. The Whig
papers of those years all show that I was upon
the electoral ticket; even though I made
speeches, among other things about the tariff,
but they do not show what I said about it. The
papers show that I was one of a committee
which reported, among others, a resolution in
these words :

" That we are in favor of an adequate revenue on

1 At this time there were many people in the East in favor of
securing a high protective tariff. Harvey had taken the stump
in i860 and was besieged by numerous individuals to learn Lin-
coln's views and so wrote to him about the matter. Harvey was
U. S. Minister to Portugal durng Lincoln's first administration.

62 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 23

duties from imports so levied as to afford ample pro-
tection to American industry."

But, after all, was it really any more than the
tariff plank of our present platform? And does
not my acceptance pledge me to that? And am
I at liberty to do more, if I were inclined?

Yours truly, A. Lincoln.

*Letter to William Herndon

Springfield, III., October lo, i860.
Dear William: I cannot give you details,
but it is entirely certain that Pennsylvania and
Indiana have gone Republican very largely.
Pennsylvania 25,000, and Indiana 5,000 to 10,-
000. Ohio of course is safe.

Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln.

*EXTRACT from A LETTER TO L. MONTGOMERY

Bond

October 15, i860.

I certainly am in no temper and have no pur-
pose to embitter the feelings of the South, but
whether I am inclined to such a course as would
in fact embitter their feelings, you can better
judge by my published speeches than by any-
thing I would say in a short letter if I were in-
clined now, as I am not, to define my position
anew.

:i86oi Letter to Speer 63

Letter to Miss Grace Bedell,

(Private.)
Springfield, Illinois, October 19, i860.
My dear attle Miss: Your very agreeable
letter of the 15th is received. I regret the
necessity of saying I have no daughter. I have
three sons — one seventeen, one nine, and one
seven years of age. They, with their mother,
constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers,
having never worn any, do you not think people
would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were
to begin it now?

Your very sincere well-wisher,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to William S. Speer.

(Confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, October 23, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 13th was duly
received. I appreciate your motive when you
suggest the propriety of my writing for the pub-
lic something disclaiming all intention to inter-
fere with slaves or slavery in the States ; but in
my judgment it would do no good. I have al-
ready done this many, many times ; and it is in
print, and open to all who will read. Those who
will not read or heed what I have already pub-
licly said would not read or heed a repetition of

64 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 29

it. "If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded though one rose
from the dead."

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to J. C. Lee

(Confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, October 24, i860.

^Dear Sir: Yours of the 14th was received
some days ago, and should have been answered
sooner.

I never gave fifty dollars, nor one dollar, nor
one cent, for the object you mention, or any such
object.

I once subscribed twenty-five dollars, to be
paid whenever Judge Logan would decide it
was necessary to enable the people of Kansas to
defend themselves against any force coming
against them from without the Territory, and
not by authority of the United States. Logan
never made the decision, and I never paid a
dollar on the subscription. The whole of this
can be seen in the files of the "Illinois Journal,"
since the first of June last.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

i86o] Letter to Mrs. Hurlbut 65

*Letter to Major David Hunter

(Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, October 26, i860.
My dear Sir: Your very kind letter of the
20th was duly received, for which please accept
my thanks. I have another letter, from a writer
unknown to me, saying the officers of the army
at Fort Kearny have determined, in case of Re-
publican success at the approaching presidential
election, to take themselves, and the arms at that
point, South, for the purpose of resistance to the
government While I think there are many
chances to one that this is a humbug, it occurs to
me that any real movement of this sort in the
army would leak out and become known to you.
In such case, if it would not be unprofessional
or dishonorable (of which you are to be judge),
I shall be much obliged if you will apprise me
of it. Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

*Letter to Mrs. S. A. Hurlbut

Springfield, Ills., October 29, i860.
My dear Madam: Your good husband, who
is making speeches for us in this county, has
desired me to write you that he is well, which
I take great pleasure in doing. I will add, too,
that he is rendering us very efficient service.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

66 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 29

Letter to George D. Prentice

(Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, October 29, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 26th is just re-
ceieved. Your suggestion that I in a certain
event shall write a letter setting forth my con-
servative views and intentions is certainly a very
worthy one. But would it do any good? If I
were to labor a month I could not express my
conservative views and intentions more clearly
and strongly than they are expressed in our
platform and in my many speeches already in
print and before the public. And yet even you,
who do occasionally speak of me in terms of
personal kindness, give no prominence to these
oft- repeated expressions of conservative views
and intentions, but busy yourself with appeals
to all conservative men to vote for Douglas, — to
vote any way which can possibly defeat me, —
thus impressing your readers that you think I
am the very worst man living. If what I have
already said has failed to convince you, no repe-
tition of it would convince you. The writing of
your letter, now before me, gives assurance that
you would publish such a letter from me as you
suggest; but, till now, what reason had I to sup-
pose the "Louisville Journal," even, would
publish a repetition of that which is already at

i860] Letter to Prentice 67

its command, and which it does not press upon
the public attention?

And now, my friend, — for such I esteem you
personally, — do not misunderstand me. I have
not decided that I will not do substantially
what you suggest. I will not forbear from do-
ing so merely on punctilio and pluck. If I do
finally abstain, it will be because of apprehen-
sion that it would do harm. For the good men
of the South — and I regard the majority of
them as such — I have no objection to repeat
seventy and seven times. But I have bad men
to deal with, both North and South; men who
are eager for something new upon which to base
new misrepresentations; men who would like to
frighten me, or at least to fix upon me the char-
acter of timidity and cowardice. They would
seize upon almost any letter I could write as
being an "awful coming down." I intend keep-
ing my eye upon these gentlemen, and to not un-
necessarily put any weapons in their hands.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

[The following indorsement appears on the
back:]

(Confidential.)

The within letter was written on the day of
its date, and on reflection withheld till now. It
expresses the views I still entertain.

A. Lincoln.

68 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 13

Letter to Hannibal Hamlin

(Confidential.)

Springfield, Illinois, November 8, i860.
My dear Sir: I am anxious for a personal
interview with you at as early a day as possible.
Can you, without much inconvenience, meet me
at Chicago? If you can, please name as early
a day as you conveniently can, and telegraph
me, unless there be sufficient time before the
day named to communicate by mail.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to General Winfield Scott

Springfield, Illinois, November 9, i860.
Mr. Lincoln tenders his sincere thanks to
General Scott for the copy of his "views," etc.,
which is received; and especially for this re-
newed manifestation of his patriotic purpose as
a citizen, connected, as it is, with his high official
position and most distinguished character as a
military captain. A. L.

Letter to Truman Smith

{Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, November 10, i860.
My dear Sir: This is intended as a strictly
private letter to you, and not as an answer to

i86o] Letter to Hay craft 69

yours brought me by Mr. . It is with the

most profound appreciation of your motive, and
highest respect for your judgment, too, that I
feel constrained, for the present at least, to make
no declaration for the public.

First. I could say nothing which I have not
already said, and which is in print, and open
for the inspection of all. To press a repetition
of this upon those who have listened, is useless ;
to press it upon those who have refused to listen,
and still refuse, would be wanting in self-respect,
and would have an appearance of sycophancy
and timidity which would excite the contempt
of good men and encourage bad ones to clamor
the more loudly.

I am not insensible to any commercial or finan-
cial depression that may exist, but nothing is to
be gained by fawning around the "respectable
scoundrels" who got it up. Let them go to work
and repair the mischief of their own making,
and then perhaps they will be less greedy to do
the like again.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

♦Letter to Samuel Haycraft

Springfield, Ills., November 13, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 9th is just re-
ceived. I can only answer briefly. Rest fully
assured that the good people of the South, who

70 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 19

will put themselves in the same temper and
mood towards me which you do, will find no
cause to complain of me.

While I cannot, as yet, make any committal
as to offices, I sincerely hope I may find it in my
power to oblige the friends of Mr. Wintersmith.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to N. P. Paschall

(Private and confidential.)

Springfield, III., November i6, i860.

My dear Sir: Mr. Ridgely showed me a
letter of yours in which you manifest some anx-
iety that I should make some public declaration
with a view to favorably affect the business of
the country. I said to Mr. Ridgely I would
write you to-day, which I now do.

I could say nothing which I have not already
said, and which is in print, and accessible to the
public. Please pardon me for suggesting that
if the papers like yours, which heretofore have
persistently garbled and misrepresented what I
have said, will now fully and fairly place it be-
fore their readers, there can be no further mis-
understanding. I beg you to believe me sincere
when I declare I do not say this in a spirit of
complaint or resentment; but that I urge it as
the true cure for any real uneasiness in the

i86o] Letter to Asbury 71

country that my course may be other than con-
servative. The Republican newspapers now
and for some time past are and have been re-
publishing copious extracts from my many pub-
lished speeches, which would at once reach the
whole public if your class of papers would also
publish them.

I am not at liberty to shift my ground — that
is out of the question. If I thought a repetition
would do any good, I would make it. But in
my judgment it would do positive harm. The
secessionists per se, believing they had alarmed
me, would clamor all the louder.
Yours, etc.,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to Henry Asbury

Springfield, III., November 19, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 9th was received
in due course; but, till now, I have not found
time to acknowledge the receipt of it.

It is a little curious, and not wholly uninter-
esting, to look over those old letters of yours and
mine. I would like to indulge in some com-
ments, but really I have not the time.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

72 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 27

Remarks at the Meeting at Springfield,
Illinois, to Celebrate Lincoln's Elec-
tion, November 20, i860.
Friends and Fellow-citizens: Please excuse
me on this occasion from making a speech. I
thank you in common with all those who have
thought fit by their votes to indorse the Republi-
can cause. I rejoice with you in the success
which has thus far attended that cause. Yet in
all our rejoicings, let us neither express nor
cherish any hard feelings toward any citizen
who by his vote has differed with us. Let us at
all times remember that all American citizens
are brothers of a common country, and should
dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling.
Let me again beg you to accept my thanks,
and to excuse me from further speaking at this
time.

Letter to Hannibal Hamlin

Springfield, Illinois, November 27, i860.

My dear Sir: On reaching home I find I
have in charge for you the inclosed letter.

I deem it proper to advise you that I also find
letters here from very strong and unexpected
quarters in Pennsylvania, urging the appoint-
ment of General Cameron to a place in the
cabinet.

i860] Letter to Jackson 'ji

Let this be a profound secret, even though I
do think best to let you know it.
Yours very sincerely,

A. LiNCOLNo

*Letter to F. R. Jackson

Springfield, Ills., November 27, i860.
My dear Sir: Your kind letter of congrat-
ulation is received, and for which, please ac-
cept my thanks. Below is my autograph, ac-
cording to your request.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

74 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 8

Letter to Henry J. Raymond

(Private and confidential.)

Springfield, Illinois, November 28, i860.

MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 14th was
received in due course. I have de-
layed so long to answer it, because my
reasons for not coming before the public in any
form just now had substantially appeared in
your paper (the "Times"), and hence I feared
they were not deemed sufficient by you, else you
would not have written me as you did. I now
think we have a demonstration in favor of my
view. On the 20th instant Senator Trumbull
made a short speech, which I suppose you have
both seen and approved. Has a single news-
paper, heretofore against us, urged that speech
upon its readers with a purpose to quiet public
anxiety? Not one, so far as I know. On the
contrary, the "Boston Courier" and its class hold
me responsible for that speech, and endeavor to
inflame the North with the belief that it fore-
shadows an abandonment of Republican ground
by the incoming administration; while the
Washington "Constitution" and its class hold the
same speech up to the South as an open declara-

i86o] Letter to Hamlin 75

tion of war against them. This is just as I ex-
pected, and just what would happen with any
declaration I could make. These political fiends
are not half sick enough yet. Party malice, and
not public good, possesses them entirely. "They
seek a sign, and no sign shall be given them."
At least such is my present feeling and purpose.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to A. H. Stephens

Springfield, Illinois, November 30, i860.
My dear sir: I have read in the newspapers
your speech recently delivered (I think) before
the Georgia legislature, or its assembled mem-
bers. If you have revised it, as is probable, I
shall be much obliged if you will send me a
copy. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Hannibal Hamlin

(Private.)

Springfield, Illinois, December 8, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 4th was duly re-
ceived. The inclosed to Governor Seward
covers two notes to him, copies of which you
find open for your inspection. Consult with
Judge Trumbull; and if you and he see no
reason to the contrary, deliver the letter to

76 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 8

Governor Seward at once. If you see reason to
the contrary, write me at once.

I have had an intimation that Governor Banks
would yet accept a place in the cabinet. Please
ascertain and write me how this is.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letters to W. H. Seward

Springfield, Illinois, December 8, i860.
My dear Sir: With your permission I shall
at the proper time nominate you to the Senate
for confirmation as Secretary of State for the
United States. Please let me hear from you at
your own earliest convenience.

Your friend and obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

(Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, December 8, i860.
My dear Sir: In addition to the accom-
panying and more formal note inviting you to
take charge of the State Department, I deem it
proper to address you this. Rumors have got
into the newspapers to the efifect that the de-
partment named above would be tendered you
as a compliment, and with the expectation that
you would decline it. I beg you to be assured
that I have said nothing to justify these rumors.

i86o] Letter to Seward "j^

On the contrary, it has been my purpose, from
the day of the nomination at Chicago, to assign
you, by your leave, this place in the administra-
tion. I have delayed so long to communicate
that purpose in deference to what appeared to
me a proper caution in the case. Nothing has
been developed to change my view in the
premises; and I now offer you the place in the
hope that you will accept it, and with the belief
that your position in the public eye, your integ-
rity, ability, learning, and great experience, all
combine to render it an appointment preemi-
nently fit to be made.

One word more. In regard to the patronage
sought with so much eagerness and jealousy, I
have prescribed for myself the maxim, "Justice
to all" ; and I earnestly beseech your coopera-
tion in keeping the maxim good.

Your friend and obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Reply to a Letter from William Kellogg,
M. C, Asking Advice, December ii, i860.

Entertain no proposition for a compromise in
regard to the extension of slavery. The instant
you do they have us under again: all our labor
is lost, and sooner or later must be done over.
Douglas is sure to be again trying to bring in
his "popular sovereignty." Have none of it.

^S Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 15

The tug has to come, and better now than later.
You know I think the fugitive-slave clause of
the Constitution ought to be enforced — to put it
in its mildest form, ought not to be resisted.

Short Editorial Printed in the "Illinois
Journal," December 12, i860

We hear such frequent allusions to a sup-
posed purpose on the part of Mr. Lincoln to
call into his cabinet two or three Southern gen-
tlemen from the parties opposed to him politi-
cally, that we are prompted to ask a few ques-
tions.

First. Is it known that any such gentleman of
character would accept a place in the cabinet?

Second. If yea, on what terms does he sur-
render to Mr. Lincoln, or Mr. Lincoln to him,
on the political differences between them; or do
they enter upon the administration in open op-
position to each other?

Letter to E. B. Washburne

(Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, December 13, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the loth is received.
Prevent, as far as possible, any of our friends
from demoralizing themselves and our cause by
entertaining propositions for compromise of any
sort on "slavery extension." There is no pos-

i86o] Letter to Gilmer 79

sible compromise upon it but which puts us
under again, and leaves all our work to do over
again. Whether it be a Missouri line or Eli
Thayer's popular sovereignty, it is all the same.
Let either be done, and immediately filibuster-
ing and extending slavery recommences. On
that point hold firm, as with a chain of steel.
Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to John A. Gilmer

(Strictly confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, December 15, i860.

My dear Sir: Yours of the loth is received.
I am greatly disinclined to write a letter on the
subject embraced in yours; and I would not do
so, even privately as I do, were it not that I fear
you might misconstrue my silence. Is it desired
that I shall shift the ground upon which I have
been elected? I cannot do it. You need only
to acquaint yourself with that ground, and press
it on the attention of the South. It is all in
print and easy of access.

May I be pardoned if I ask whether even you
have ever attempted to procure the reading of
the Republican platform, or my speeches, by
the Southern people? If not, what reason have
I to expect that any additional production of
mine would meet a better fate? It would make

8o Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 15

me appear as if I repented for the crime of hav-
ing been elected, and was anxious to apologize
and beg forgiveness. To so represent me would
be the principal use made of any letter I might
now thrust upon the public. My old record
cannot be so used; and that is precisely the rea-
son that some new declaration is so much sought.

Now, my dear sir, be assured that I am not
questioning your candor; I am only pointing out
that while a new letter would hurt the cause
which I think a just one, you can quite as well
eflfect every patriotic object with the old record.
Carefully read pages 18, 19, 74, 75, 88, 89, and
267 of the volume of joint debates between Sen-
ator Douglas and myself, with the Republican
platform adopted at Chicago, and all your ques-
tions will be substantially answered. I have no
thought of recommending the abolition of slav-
ery in the District of Columbia, nor the slave-
trade among the slave States, even on the con-
ditions indicated; and if I were to make such
recommendation, it is quite clear Congress
would not follow it.

As to employing slaves in arsenals and dock-
yards, it is a thing I never thought of in my
recollection, till I saw your letter; and I may
say of it precisely as I have said of the two
points above.

As to the use of patronage in the slave States,

i86o] Letter to Gilmer 8i

where there are few or no Republicans, I do not
expect to inquire for the politics of the ap-
pointee, or whether he does or not own slaves.
I intend in that matter to accommodate the
people in the several localities, if they them-
selves will allow me to accommodate them. In
one word, I never have been, am not now, and
probably never shall be in a mood of harrassing
the people either North or South.

On the territorial question I am inflexible, as
you see my position in the book. On that there
is a difference between you and us; and it is the
only substantial difference. You think slavery
is right and ought to be extended ; we think it is
wrong and ought to be restricted. For this
neither has any just occasion to be angry with
the other.

As to the State laws, mentioned in your
sixth question, I really know very little of them.
I never have read one. If any of them are in
conflict with the fugitive-slave clause, or any
other part of the Constitution, I certainly shall
be glad of their repeal; but I could hardly be
justified, as a citizen of Illinois, or as President
of the United States, to recommend the repeal
of a statute of Vermont or South Carolina.

With the assurance of my highest regards,
I subscribe myself.

Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln.

§2 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i8

P. S. — The documents referred to I suppose
you will readily find in Washington.

A. L.
Letter to Thurlow Weed

Springfield, Illinois, December 17, i860.

My dear Sir: Yours of the nth was re-
ceived two days ago. Should the convocation
of governors of which you speak seem desirous
to know my views on the present aspect of things
tell them you judge from my speeches that I
will be inflexible on the territorial question; that
I probably think either the Missouri line ex-
tended, or Douglas's and Eli Thayer's popular
sovereignty, would lose us everything we gain
by the election ; that filibustering for all south of
us and making slave States of it would follow, in
spite of us, in either case; also that I probably
think all opposition, real and apparent, to the
fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution ought to
be withdrawn.

I believe you can pretend to find but little, if
anything, in my speeches about secession. But
my opinion is, that no State can in any way
lawfully get out of the Union without the con-
sent of the others; and that it is the duty of the
President and other government functionaries
to run the machine as it is.

Truly yours,

A. Lincoln.

i86o] Letter to Raymond 83

Letter to Edward Bates

(Confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, December i8, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of to-day is just re-
ceived. Let a little editorial appear in the
"Missouri Democrat" in about these words:

"We have the permission of both Mr. Lin-
coln and Mr. Bates to say that the latter will be
offered, and will accept, a place in the new
cabinet, subject, of course, to the action of the
Senate. It is not yet definitely settled which de-
partment will be assigned to Mr. Bates."

Let it go just as above, or with any modifica-
tion which may seem proper to you.
Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

* Letter to Henry J. Raymond

(Confidential.)
Springfield, Ills., Dec. 18, i860.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 14th is received.
What a very mad man your correspondent,
Smedley is. Mr. Lincoln is not pledged to the
ultimate extinction of slavery; does not hold the
black man to be the equal of the white, unquali-
fiedly as Mr. S. states it; and never did stigma-
tize their white people as immoral and unchris-

84 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 22

tian; and Mr. S. cannot prove one of his asser-
tions true.

Mr. S. seems sensitive on the questions of
morals and Christianity. What does he think
of a man who makes charges against another
which he does not know to be true, and could
easily learn to be false?

As to the pitcher story it is a forgery out and
out. I never made but one speech in Cincinnati
— the last speech in the volume containing the
Joint Debates between Senator Douglas and my-
self. I have never yet seen Governor Chase.
I was never in a meeting of negroes in my life;
and never saw a pitcher presented by anybody to
anybody.

I am much obliged by your letter, and shall be
glad to hear from you again when you have any-
thing of interest.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to E. B. Washburne

(Confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, December 21, i860.
My dear Sir: Last night I received your
letter giving an account of your interview with
General Scott, and for which I thank you.
Please present my respects to the general, and
tell him, confidentially, I shall be obliged to

i86o] Letter to Stephens 85

him to be as well prepared as he can to either
hold or retake the forts, as the case may require,
at and after the inauguration.
Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Alexander H. Stephens.^

(For your own eye only.)
Springfield, Illinois, December 22, i860.
My dear Sir: Your obliging answer to my
short note is just received, and for which please
accept my thanks. I fully appreciate the pres-
ent peril the country is in, and the weight of re-
sponsibility on me. Do the people of the South
really entertain fears that a Republican admin-
istration would, directly or indirectly, interfere
with the slaves, or with them about the slaves?
If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend,
and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no
cause for such fears. The South would be in no
more danger in this respect than it was in the
days of Washington. I suppose, however, this

^This letter was written two days after the South Carolina
convention had unanimously declared the union existing between
it and the other States dissolved. Two months later than the
date of this letter the Confederate States of America framed a
provisional government with Jefferson Davis as President and
Stephens as Vice-President. Stephens described the new gov-
ment as " founded on the great truth that the negro is not equal
to the white man ; that slavery, subordination to the superior
race, is his natural and normal condition."

86 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 28

does not meet the case. You think slavery is
right and ought to be extended, while we think
it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That, I
suppose, is the rub. It certainly is the only sub-
stantial difference between us.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to Major David Hunter

(Confidential.)

Springfield, Illinois, December 22, i860.
My dear Sir: I am much obliged by the re-
ceipt of yours of the i8th. The most we can do
now is to watch events, and be as well prepared
as possible for any turn things may take. If
the forts fall, my judgment is that they are to
be retaken. When I shall determine definitely
my time of starting to Washington, I will notify
you. Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Hannibal Hamlin

Springfield, Illinois, December 24, i860.
My dear Sir: I need a man of Democratic
antecedents from New England. I cannot get
a fair share of that element in without. This
stands in the way of Mr. Adams. I think of
Governor Banks, Mr. Welles, and Mr. Tuck.

i86o] Letter to Trumbull 87

Which of them do the New England delegation
prefer? Or shall I decide for myself?
Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to I. N. Morris

(Confidential.)
Springfield, III., December 24, i860.
My dear Sir: Without supposing that you
and I are any nearer together, politically than
heretofore, allow me to tender you my sincere
thanks for your Union resolution, expressive of
views upon which we never were, and, I trust,
never will be at variance.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Lyman Trumbull

Springfield, Illinois, December 28, i860.
My dear Sir: General Dufif Green is out
here endeavoring to draw a letter out of me. I
have written one which herewith I inclose to
you, and which I believe could not be used to
our disadvantage. Still, if on consultation with
our discreet friends you conclude that it may do
us harm, do not deliver it. You need not men-
tion that the second clause of the letter is copied
from the Chicago platform. If, on consulta-
tion, our friends, including yourself, think it can

88 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 29

do no harm, keep a copy and deliver the letter
to General Green.

Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln.

[Inclosure.'\
Springfield, Illinois, December 28, i860.

General Duff Green.

My dear Sir: I do not desire any amend-
ment of the Constitution. Recognizing, how-
ever, that questions of such amendment right-
fully belong to the American people, I should
not feel justified nor inclined to withhold from
them, if I could, a fair opportunity of express-
ing their will thereon through either of the
modes prescribed in the instrument.

In addition I declare that the maintenance in-
violate of the rights of the States, and especially
the right of each State to order and control its
own domestic institutions according to its own
judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance
of powers on which the perfection and endur-
ance of our political fabric depend; and I de-
nounce the lawless invasion by armed force of
the soil of any State or Territory, no matter
under what pretext, as the gravest of crimes.

I am greatly averse to writing anything for
the public at this time; and I consent to the
publication of this only upon the condition that
six of the twelve United States senators for the

i86o] Letter to Bryant 89

States of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisi-
ana, Florida, and Texas shall sign their names
to what is written on this sheet below my name,
and allow the whole to be published together.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.
We recommend to the people of the States we
represent respectively, to suspend all action for
dismemberment of the Union, at least until some
act deemed to be violative of our rights shall be
done by the incoming administration.

Letter to William Cullen Bryant

Springfield, Illinois, December 29, i860.

My dear Sir: Yours of the 25th is duly re-
ceived. The ''well-known politician" to whom
I understand you to allude did write me, but
not press upon me any such compromise as you
seem to suppose, or, in fact, any compromise at
all.

As to the matter of the cabinet, mentioned by
you, I can only say I shall have a great deal of
trouble, do the best I can.

I promise you that I shall unselfishly try to
deal fairly with all men and all shades of opin-
ion among our friends.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

90 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 3

Letter to Salmon P. Chase

Springfield, Illinois, December 31, i860.
My dear Sir: In these troublous times I
would much like a conference with you. Please
visit me here at once.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Simon Cameron

Springfield, Illinois, December 31, i860.
My dear Sir: I think fit to notify you now
that by your permission I shall at the proper
time nominate you to the United States Senate
for confirmation as Secretary of the Treasury,
or as Secretary of War — which of the two I have
not yet definitely decided. Please answer at
your earliest convenience.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to W. H. Seward

(Private.)
Springfield, Illinois, January 3, 1861.
My dear Sir: Yours without signature was
received last night. I have been considering
your suggestions as to my reaching Washington
somewhat earlier than is usual. It seems to me
the inauguration is not the most dangerous point

i86i] Letter to Cameron 91

for us. Our adversaries have us now clearly at
disadvantage. On the second Wednesday of
February, when the votes should be officially
counted, if the two Houses refuse to meet at all,
or meet without a quorum of each, where shall
we be? I do not think that this counting is con-
stitutionally essential to the election; but how
are we to proceed in absence of it?

In view of this, I think it best for me not to
attempt appearing in Washington till the result
of that ceremony is known. It certainly would
be of some advantage if you could know who are
to be at the heads of the War and Navy depart-
ments; but until I can ascertain definitely
whether I can get any suitable men from the
South, and who, and how many, I cannot well
decide. As yet I have no word from Mr. Gil-
mer in answer to my request for an interview
with him. I look for something on the subject,
through you, before long.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Simon Cameron

(Private.)
Springfield, Illinois, January 3, 1861.
My dear Sir: Since seeing you things have
developed which make it impossible for me to
take you into the cabinet. You will say this

92 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. n

comes of an interview with McClure ; and this
is partly, but not wholly, true. The more potent
matter is wholly outside of Pennsylvania; and
yet I am not at liberty to specify it. Enough that
it appears to me to be sufficient. And now I
suggest that you write me declining the appoint-
ment, in which case I do not object to its being
known that it was tendered you. Better do this
at once, before things so change that you cannot
honorably decline, and I be compelled to openly
recall the tender. No person living knows or
has an intimation that I write this letter.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.
P. S.^Telegraph me instantly on receipt of
this, saying, "All right." A. L.

Letter to General Winfield Scott

Springfield, Illinois, January ii, 1861.

My dear Sir: I herewith beg leave to ac-
knowledge the receipt of your communication
of the 4th instant, inclosing (documents Nos. i,
2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) copies of correspondence and
notes of conversation with the President of the
United States and the Secretary of War concern-
ing various military movements suggested by
yourself for the better protection of the govern-
ment and the maintenance of public order.

Permit me to renew to you the assurance of

i86i] Letter to Hale 93

my high appreciation of the many past services
you have rendered the Union, and of my deep
gratification at this evidence of your present ac-
tive exertions to maintain the integrity and honor
of the nation.

I shall be highly pleased to receive from time
to time such communications from yourself as
you may deem it proper to make to me.
Very truly your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to J. T. Hale

(Confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, January ii, 1861.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 6th is received.
I answer it only because I fear you would mis-
construe my silence. What is our present con-
dition? We have just carried an election on
principles fairly stated to the people. Now
we are told in advance the government
shall be broken up unless we surrender to those
we have beaten, before we take the offices. In
this they are either attempting to play upon us
or they are in dead earnest. Either way, if we
surrender, it is the end of us and of the govern-
ment. They will repeat the experiment upon us
ad libitum. A year will not pass till we shall
have to take Cuba as a condition upon which
they will stay in the Union. They now have the

94 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 12

Constitution under which we have lived over
seventy years, and acts of Congress of their own
framing, with no prospect of their being
changed ; and they can never have a more shallow
pretext for breaking up the government, or ex-
torting a compromise, than now. There is in
my judgment but one compromise which would
really settle the slavery question, and that would
be a prohibition against acquiring any more
territory.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to W. H. Seward

(Private.)
Springfield, Illinois, January 12, 1861.

My dear Sir: Yours of the 8th received. I
still hope Mr. Gilmer will, on a fair under-
standing with us, consent to take a place in the
cabinet. The preference for him over Mr. Hunt
or Mr. Gentry is that, up to date, he has a living
position in the South, while they have not. He
is only better than Winter Davis in that he h
farther South. I fear if we could not safely take
more than one such man — that is, not more than
one who opposed us in the election, the danger
being to lose the confidence of our own friends.

Your selection for the State Department hav-
ing become public, I am happy to find scarcely

i86ij Letter to Seward 95

any objection to it. I shall have trouble with
every other Northern cabinet appointment, so
much so that I shall have to defer them as long
as possible, to avoid being teased to insanity to
make changes.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

96 Abraham Lincoln [jan. 13

Letters to Simon Cameron

(Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, January 13, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR: At the suggestion of
Mr. Sanderson, and with hearty good-
will besides, I herewith send you a
letter dated January 3 — the same in date as the
last you received from me. I thought best to
give it that date, as it is in some sort to take the
place of that letter. I learn, both by a letter
from Mr. Swett and from Mr. Sanderson, that
your feelings were wounded by the terms of my
letter really of the 3d.

I wrote that letter under great anxiety, and
perhaps I was not so guarded in its terms as I
should have been; but I beg you to be assured
I intended no offense. My great object was to
have you act quickly, if possible before the mat-
ter should be complicated with the Pennsylvania
senatorial election. Destroy the offensive let-
ter, or return it to me.

I say to you now I have not doubted that you
would perform the duties of a department ably
and faithfully. Nor have I for a moment in-
tended to ostracize your friends. If I should

i86i] Letter to Cameron 97

make a cabinet appointment for Pennsylvania
before I reach Washington, I will not do so
without consulting you, and giving all the weight
to your views and wishes which I consistently
can. This I have always intended.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

[Inclosiire.']
Springfield, Illinois, January 3, 1861.

Hon. Simon Cameron.

My dear Sir: When you were here, about
the last of December, I handed you a letter say-
ing I should at the proper time nominate you
to the Senate for a place in the cabinet. It is
due to you and to truth for me to say you were
here by my invitation, and not upon any sugges-
tion of your own. You have not as yet signified
to me whether you would accept the appoint-
ment, and with much pain I now say to you that
you will relieve me from great embarrassment
by allowing me to recall the offer. This springs
from an unexpected complication, and not from
any change of my view as to the ability or faith-
fulness with which you would discharge the
duties of the place. I now think I will not
definitely fix upon any appointment for Pennsyl-
vania until I reach Washington.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

98 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 23

Letter to General John E. Wool

Springfield, Illinois, January 14, 1861.

My dear Sir: Many thanks for your patri-
otic and generous letter of the nth instant. As
to how far the military force of the government
may become necessary to the preservation of the
Union, and more particularly how that force can
best be directed to the object, I must chiefly rely
upon General Scott and yourself. It afifords me
the profoundest satisfaction to know that with
both of you judgment and feeling go heartily
with your sense of professional and official duty
to the work.

It is true that I have given but little attention
to the military department of government; but,
be assured, I cannot be ignorant as to who Gen-
eral Wool is, or what he has done. With my
highest esteem and gratitude, I subscribe myself
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to General Edwin C. Wilson

(Private.)
Springfield, Illinois, January 23, 1861.
Dear Sir: Your official communication of
the 31st ultimo, addressed to Hon. A. Lincoln,
was duly received.

Mr. Lincoln desires me to answer that while

i86i] Letter to Wilson 99

he does not now deem it necessary to avail him-
self of the services you so kindly offer him, he
is nevertheless gratified to have this assurance
from yourself that the militia of the State of
Pennsylvania is loyal to the Constitution and the
Union, and stands ready to rally to their support
and maintenance in the event of trouble or dan-
ger. Yours truly,

J NO. G. NiCOLAY.

Letter to R. A. Cameron, Marsh, and Bran-
ham, Committee

Springfield, January 26, 1861.

Gentlemen: I have the honor to acknowl-
edge the receipt, by your hands, of a copy of a
joint resolution adopted by the legislature of
the State of Indiana, on the 15th instant, invit-
ing me to visit that honorable body on my way
to the Federal capital.

Expressing my profound gratitude for this
flattering testimonial of their regard and esteem,
be pleased to bear to them my acceptance of
their kind invitation, and inform them that I
will endeavor to visit them, in accordance with
their expressed desire, on the 12th of February
next.

With feelings of high consideration, I remain
Your humble servant,

A.. Lincoln.

100 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. i

Letter to Messrs. James Sulgrove, Erie
Locke, William Wallace, and John T.
Wood, Committee

Springfield, Illinois, January 28, 1861.
Gentlemen: I received to-day from the
hands of Mr. Locke a transcript of the resolu-
tions passed at a meeting of the citizens of In-
dianapolis, inviting me to visit that city on my
route to Washington.

Permit me to express to the citizens of In-
dianapolis, through you, their committee, my
cordial thanks for the honor shown me. I accept
with great pleasure the invitation so kindly
tendered, and will be in your city on the 12th
day of February next.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to J. W. Tillman

Springfield, Illinois, January 28, 1861.

Dear Sir: Your letter of the 24th instant ad-
dressed to Hon. A. Lincoln, inviting him, on
behalf of the State Central Committee of Michi-
gan, to pass through that State on his journey
to Washington, has been received.

He desires me to reply, with profound thanks
for the honor thus cordially tendered him, that
having accepted similar invitations to pass

i86i] Letter to Morgan loi

through the capitals of the States of Indiana and
Ohio, he regrets that it will be out of his power
to accept the courtesies and hospitalities of the
people of Michigan so kindly proffered him
through yourself and the committee.
Yours truly,

J NO. G. NiCOLAY.

Letter to Edward Bates

Springfield, Illinois, January 28, 1861.
Dear Sir: Hon. A. Lincoln desires me to
write to you that he has determined on starting
from here for Washington city on the nth of
February. He will go through Indianapolis,
Columbus, Pittsburg, Albany, New York,
Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Baltimore.

Albany, New York, and Philadelphia are not
finally decided upon, though it is probable that
he will also take them in his route. The jour-
ney will occupy twelve or fifteen days.
Yours truly,

Jno. G. Nicolay.

Letter to E. D. Morgan

Springfield, Illinois, February i, 1861.
Dear Sir: Your letter of the 19th ultimo ad-
dressed to Hon. A. Lincoln, was duly received,
in which you invite him to visit Albany on his

I02 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. i

route to Washington, and tender him the hos-
pitalities of the State and your home.

In accordance with the answer just sent to the
telegraphic message received from yourself a
few minutes since, Mr. Lincoln desires me to
write that it has for some little time been his
purpose to pass through Albany, and that he
would have answered you to that same effect be-
fore this, but for the fact that as the legislatures
of Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
had by resolution invited him to visit them, he
thought it probable that a similar resolution
would be adopted by the legislature of New
York, and he had therefore waited to reply to
both invitations together.

He will cheerfully accede to any arrange-
ments yourself and the citizens of Albany may
make for his stay, providing only no formal
ceremonies wasting any great amount of time be
adopted. Yours truly,

Jno. G. Nicolay.

Letter to W. H. Seward

{Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, February i, 1861.
My dear Sir: On the 21st ult. Hon. W. Kel-
logg, a Republican member of Congress of this
State, whom you probably know, was here in a
good deal of anxiety seeking to ascertain to what

i86i] Letter to Seward 103

extent I would be consenting for our friends to
go in the way of compromise on the now
vexed question. While he was with me I re-
ceived a despatch from Senator Trumbull, at
Washington, alluding to the same question and
telling me to await letters. I therefore told Mr.
Kellogg that when I should receive these letters
posting me as to the state of affairs at Washing-
ton, I would write to you, requesting you to let
him see my letter. To my surprise, when the
letters mentioned by Judge Trumbull came they
made no allusion to the "vexed question." This
baffled me so much that I was near not writing
you at all, in compliance to what I have said
to Judge Kellogg. I say now, however, as I
have all the while said, that on the territorial
question — that is, the question of extending
slavery under the national auspices — I am in-
flexible. I am for no compromise which assists
or permits the extension of the institution on soil
owned by the nation. And any trick by which
the nation is to acquire territory, and then allow
some local authority to spread slavery over it, is
as obnoxious as any other. I take it that to effect
some such result as this, and to put us again on
the highroad to a slave empire, is the object of
all these proposed compromises. I am against
it. As to fugitive slaves. District of Columbia,
slave-trade among the slave States, and whatever

I04 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 4

springs of necessity from the fact that the insti-
tution is amongst us, I care but little, so that
what is done be comely and not altogether out-
rageous. Nor do I care much about New
Mexico, if further extension were hedged
against. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Thurlow Weed

Springfield, Illinois, February 4, 1861.

Dear Sir: I have both your letter to myself
and that to Judge Davis, in relation to a cer-
tain gentleman in your State claiming to dis-
pense patronage in my name, and also to be au-
thorized to use my name to advance the chances
of Mr. Greeley for an election to the United
States Senate.

It is very strange that such things should be
said by any one. The gentleman you mention
did speak to me of Mr. Greeley in connection
with the senatorial election, and I replied in
terms of kindness toward Mr. Greeley, which I
really feel, but always with an expressed protest
that my name must not be used in the senatorial
election in favor of, or against, any one. Any
other representation of me is a misrepresenta-
tion.

As to the matter of dispensing patronage, it
perhaps will surprise you to learn that I have

i86i] Letter to Morgan 105

information that you claim to have my author-
ity to arrange that matter in New York. I do
not believe that you have so claimed; but still so
some men say. On that subject you know all I
have said to you is "Justice to all," and I have
said nothing more particular to any one. I say
this to reassure you that I have not changed my
position.

In the hope, however, that you will not use
my name in the matter, I am
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Edwin D. Morgan

Springfield, Illinois, February 4, 1861.
Sir: Your letter of the 30th ultimo, inviting
me on behalf of the legislature of New York to
pass through that State on my way to Washing-
ton, and tendering me the hospitalities of her au-
thorities and people, has been duly received.

With feelings of deep gratitude to you and
them for this testimonial of regard and esteem, I
beg you to notify them that I accept the invita-
tion so kindly extended.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.
P. S. — Please let ceremonies be only such as to
take the least time possible. A. L.

/o6 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 7

Letter to Edward Bates

Springfield, Illinois, February 5, 1861.

Dear Sir: Hon. A. Lincoln directs me to
say to you that in case you intend going to Wash-
ington about the time he proposes to start (the
nth instant), he would be pleased to have you
accompany him on the trip he contemplates.

He does not desire to have you do this, how-
ever, at the cost of any inconvenience to your-
self, or the derangement of any plans you may
have already formed.

Yours truly, J NO. G. NiCOLAY.

P. S. — Mr. Lincoln intended to have said this
to you himself when you were here, but in his
hurry it escaped his attention. J. G. N.

Letter to Charles S. Olden

Springfield, Illinois, February 6, 1861.

Sir: Your letter of the ist instant inviting
me, in compliance with the request of the legis-
lature of New Jersey, to visit your State capital
while on my journey to Washington, has been
duly received.

I accept the invitation, with much gratitude
to you and them for the kindness and honor
thus offered. Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

P. S. — Please arrange no ceremonies that will
waste time.

i86i] Letter to Dennison 107

Letter to the Governor and the Legisla-
ture OF Massachusetts

Springfield, Illinois, February 7, 1861.
Gentlemen: Your kind letter of February i,
with a copy of the resolutions of the General
Court, inviting me, in the name of the govern-
ment and people of Massachusetts, to visit the
State and accept its hospitality previous to the
time of the presidential inauguration, is grate-
fully received by the hand of Colonel Horace
Binney Sargent; and, in answer, I am con-
strained to say want of time denies me the pleas-
ure of accepting the invitation so generously
tendered. Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to William Dennison

Springfield, Illinois, February 7, 1861.

Sir: Your letter of the 31st ultimo, inviting
me, on behalf of the legislature of Ohio, to visit
Columbus on my way to Washington, has been
duly received.

With profound gratitude for the mark of re-
spect and honor thus cordially tendered me by
you and them, I accept the invitation.

Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN.

Please arrange no ceremonies which will
waste time.

io8 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 8

Letter to Messrs. J. G. Lowe, T. A. Phillips,
AND W. H. Gillespie, Committee

Springfield, Illinois, February 7, 1861.

Gentlemen : Your note of to-day, inviting me
while on my way to Washington to pass through
the town and accept the hospitalities of the citi-
zens of Dayton, Ohio, is before me.

A want of the necessary time makes it impos-
sible for me to stop in your town. If it will not
retard my arrival at or departure from the city
of Columbus, I will endeavor to pass through
and at least bow to the friends there; if, how-
ever, it would in any wise delay me, they must
not even expect this, but be content instead to
receive through you my warmest thanks for the
kindness and cordiality with which they have
tendered this invitation.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to George B. Senter and Others,
Committee

Springfield, Illinois, February 8, 1861.
Gentlemen: Yours of the 6th, inviting me,
in compliance with a resolution of the city coun-
cil of the city of Cleveland, Ohio, to visit that
city on my contemplated journey to Washing-
ton, is duly at hand, and in answer I have the

i86i] Letter to Finney 109

honor to accept the invitation. The time of ar-
rival and other details are subject to future ar-
rangement.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to A. D. Finney and Others, Com-
mittee

Springfield, Illinois, February 8, 1861.
Gentlemen: Yours of the 4th, inviting me
on behalf of the legislature of Pennsylvania to
visit Harrisburg on my way to the Federal
capital, is received; and, in answer, allow me
to say I gratefully accept the tendered honor.

The time of arrival, and other details, are sub-
ject to future arrangements.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

no Abraham Lincoln [Feb.

Farewell Address at Springfield, Illinois,
February ii, 1861 ^

MY FRIENDS: No one, not in my
situation, can appreciate my feeling of
sadness at this parting. To this place,
and the kindness of these people, I owe every-
thing. Here I have lived a quarter of a cen-
tury, and have passed from a young to an old
man. Here my children have been born, and
one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when
or whether ever I may return, with a task before
me greater than that which rested upon Wash-
ington. Without the assistance of that Divine
Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed.
With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting
in Him who can go with me, and remain with
you, and be everywhere for good, let us con-

^ W. H. Lamon, who witnessed this scene of farewell, says :
" Having reached the train he [Lincoln] ascended the rear plat-
form, and, facing the throng which had closed around him, drew
himself up to his full height, removed his hat, and stood for
several seconds in profound silence. . . . There was an un-
usual quiver on his lip, and a still more unusual tear on his
furrowed cheek. ... At length he began in a husky tone
of voice, and slowly and impressively delivered his farewell to
his neighbors. Imitating his example, every man in the crowd
stood with his head uncovered in the fast-falling rain."

Lincoln's Home, Springfield, Ills.

Where he lived when elected President.

i86i] Reply at Indianapolis iii

fidently hope that all will yet be well. To His
care commending you, as I hope in your prayers
you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate
farewell.

Reply to the Address of Welcome at In-
dianapolis, Indiana, February ii, 1861.

Governor Morton and Fellow-citizens of the
State of Indiana: Most heartily do I thank you
for this magnificent reception; and while I can-
not take to myself any share of the compliment
thus paid, more than that which pertains to a
mere instrument — an accidental instrument per-
haps I should say — of a great cause, I yet must
look upon it as a magnificent reception, and as
such most heartily do I thank you for it. You
have been pleased to address yourself to me
chiefly in behalf of this glorious Union in which
we live, in all of which you have my hearty
sympathy, and, as far as may be within my
power, will have, one and inseparably, my hearty
cooperation. While I do not expect, upon this
occasion, or until I get to Washington, to at-
tempt any lengthy speech, I will only say that
to the salvation of the Union there needs but one
single thing, the hearts of a people like yours.
When the people rise in mass in behalf of the
Union and the liberties of this country, truly
may it be said, "The gates of hell cannot prevail

112 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 12

against them." In all trying positions in which
I shall be placed, and doubtless I shall be placed
in many such, my reliance will be upon you and
the people of the United States ; and I wish you
to remember, now and forever, that it is your
business, and not mine ; that if the union of these
States and the liberties of this people shall be
lost, it is but little to any one man of fifty-two
years of age, but a great deal to the thirty mil-
lions of people who inhabit these United States,
and to their posterity in all coming time. It is
your business to rise up and preserve the Union
and liberty for yourselves, and not for me. I
appeal to you again to constantly bear in mind
that not with politicians, not with Presidents,
not with office-seekers, but with you, is the ques-
tion: Shall the Union and shall the liberties
of this country be preserved to the latest genera-
tions?

Address to the Legislature of Indiana at
Indianapolis, February 12, 1861

Fellow-citizens of the State of Indiana: I
am here to thank you much for this magnificent
welcome, and still more for the generous support
given by your State to that political cause which
I think is the true and just cause of the whole
country and the whole world. Solomon says
there is "a time to keep silence," and when men

i86i] To Indiana Legislature 113

wrangle by the month with no certainty that they
mean the same thing, while using the same word,
it perhaps were as well if they would keep
silence. The words "coercion" and "invasion"
are much used in these days, and often with
some temper and hot blood. Let us make sure,
if we can, that we do not misunderstand the
meaning of those who use them. Let us get exact
definitions of these words, not from dictionaries,
but from the men themselves, who certainly
deprecate the things they would represent by the
use of words. What, then, is "coercion"? What
is "invasion"? Would the marching of an army
into South Carolina without the consent of her
people, and with hostile intent toward them, be
"invasion"? I certainly think it would; and it
would be "coercion" also if the South Caro-
linians were forced to submit. But if the United
States should merely hold and retake its own
forts and other property, and collect the duties
on foreign importations, or even withhold the
mails from places where they were habitually
violated, would any or all of these things be "in-
vasion" or "coercion"? Do our professed lovers
of the Union, but who spitefully resolve that
they will resist coercion and invasion, under-
stand that such things as these on the part of
the United States would be coercion or in-
vasion of a State? If so, their idea of means

114 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 12

to preserve the object of their great affection
would seem to be exceedingly thin and airy. If
sick, the little pills of the homeopathist would
be much too large for them to swallow. In
their view, the Union as a family relation would
seem to be no regular marriage, but rather a sort
of "free-love" arrangement, to be maintained
only on "passional attraction." By the way, in
what consists the special sacredness of a State?
I speak not of the position assigned to a State in
the Union by the Constitution; for that, by the
bond, we all recognize. That position, however,
a State cannot carry out of the Union with it.
I speak of that assumed primary right of a
State to rule all which is less than itself, and
ruin all which is larger than itself. If a State
and a county, in a given case, should be equal in
extent of territory, and equal in number of in-
habitants, in what, as a matter of principle, is
the State better than the county? Would an
exchange of names be an exchange of rights
upon principle? On what rightful principle
may a State, being not more than one fiftieth
part of the nation in soil and population, break
up the nation and then coerce a proportionally
larger subdivision of itself in the most arbitrary
way? What mysterious right to play tyrant is
conferred on a district of country with its
people, by merely calling it a State? Fellow-

i86i] Address at Cincinnati 115

citizens, I am not asserting anything; I am mere-
ly asking questions for you to consider. And
now allow me to bid you farewell.

Address to the Mayor and Citizens of Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, February 12, 1861

Mr. Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen : Twenty-
four hours ago, at the capital of Indiana, I said
to myself I have never seen so many people as-
sembled together in winter weather. I am no
longer able to say that. But it is what might
reasonably have been expected — that this great
city of Cincinnati would thus acquit herself on
such an occasion. My friends, I am entirely
overwhelmed by the magnificence of the recep-
tion which has been given, I will not say to me,
but to the President-elect of the United States
of America. Most heartily do I thank you, one
and all, for it.

I am reminded by the address of your worthy
mayor that this reception is given not by any one
political party, and even if I had not been so
reminded by his Honor I could not have failed
to know the fact by the extent of the multitude
I see before me now. I could not look upon this
vast assemblage without being made aware that
all parties were united in this reception. This
is as it should be. It is as it should have been
if Senator Douglas had been elected. It is as it

ii6 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 12

should have been if Mr. Bell had been elected;
as it should have been if Mr. Breckinridge had
been elected ; as it should ever be when any citi-
zen of the United States is constitutionally
elected President of the United States. Allow
me to say that I think what has occurred here
to-day could not have occurred in any other
country on the face of the globe, without the in-
fluence of the free institutions which we have
unceasingly enjoyed for three quarters of a
century. There is no country where the people
can turn out and enjoy this day precisely as they
please, save under the benign influence of the
free institutions of our land.

I hope that, although we have some threaten-
ing national difficulties now — I hope that while
these free institutions shall continue to be in the
enjoyment of millions of free people of the
United States, we will see repeated every four
years what we now witness.

In a few short years I, and every other indi-
vidual man who is now living, will pass away; I
hope that our national difficulties will also pass
away, and I hope we shall see in the streets of
Cincinnati — good old Cincinnati — for centuries
to come, once every four years, her people give
such a reception as this to the constitutionally
elected President of the whole United States. I
hope you shall all join in that reception, and

i86i] Address at Cincinnati 117

that you shall also welcome your brethren from
across the river to participate in it. We will
welcome them in every State of the Union, no
matter where they are from. From away South
we shall extend them a cordial good-will, when
our present difficulties shall have been forgotten
and blown to the winds forever.

I have spoken but once before this in Cin-
cinnati. That was a year previous to the late
presidential election. On that occasion, in a
playful manner, but with sincere words, I ad-
dressed much of what I said to the Kentuckians.
I gave my opinion that we as Republicans would
ultimately beat them as Democrats, but that
they could postpone that result longer by nomi-
nating Senator Douglas for the presidency than
they could in any other way. They did not, in
any true sense of the word, nominate Mr. Doug-
las, and the result has come certainly as soon as
ever I expected. I also told them how I ex-
pected they would be treated after they should
have been beaten; and I now wish to
recall their attention to what I then said
upon that subject. I then said, 'When we
do as we say, — beat you, — ^you perhaps want to
know what we will do with you. I will tell
you, so far as I am authorized to speak for
the opposition, what we mean to do with you.
We mean to treat you, as near as we possibly can,

ii8 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 12

as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated
you. We mean to leave you alone, and in no
way to interfere with your institutions; to abide
by all and every compromise of the Constitution ;
and, in a word, coming back to the original
proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerate
men — if we have degenerated — may, according
to the examples of those noble fathers, Wash-
ington, Jefferson, and Madison. We mean to
remember that you are as good as we; that there
is no difference between us other than the differ-
ence of circumstances. We mean to recognize
and bear in mind always that you have as good
hearts in your bosoms as other people, or as we
claim to have, and treat you accordingly."

Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! — friends ! —
brethren! may I call you in my new position? I
see no occasion, and feel no inclination, to re-
tract a word of this. If it shall not be made
good, be assured the fault shall not be mine.

And now, fellow-citizens of Ohio, have you,
who agree with him who now addresses you in
political sentiment — have you ever entertained
other sentiments toward our brethren of Ken-
tucky than those I have expressed to you? If
not, then why shall we not, as heretofore, be
recognized and acknowledged as brethren again,
living in peace and harmony again one with
another? I take your response as the most re-

i86i] To Cincinnati Germans 119

liable evidence that it may be so, trusting,
through the good sense of the American people,
on all sides of all rivers in America, under the
providence of God, who has never deserted us,
that we shall again be brethren, forgetting all
parties, ignoring all parties. My friends, I now
bid you farewell.

Address to Germans at Cincinnati, Ohio,
February 12, 1861

Mr. Chairman: I thank you and those whom
you represent for the compliment you have paid
me by tendering me this address. In so far as
there is an allusion to our present national diffi-
culties, which expresses, as you have said, the
views of the gentlemen present, I shall have to
beg pardon for not entering fully upon the
questions which the address you have now read
suggests.

I deem it my duty — a duty which I owe to my
constituents — to you, gentlemen, that I should
wait until the last moment for a development of
the present national difficulties before I express
myself decidedly as to what course I shall pur-
sue. I hope, then, not to be false to anything
that you have to expect of me.

I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, that the
working-men are the basis of all governments,
for the plain reason that they are the more

I20 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 13

numerous, and as you added that those were the
sentiments of the gentlemen present, represent-
ing not only the working-class, but citizens of
other callings than those of the mechanic, I am
happy to concur with you in these sentiments,
not only of the native-born citizens, but also of
the Germans and foreigners from other coun-
tries.

Mr. Chairman, I hold that while man exists
it is his duty to improve not only his own con-
dition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind;
and therefore, without entering upon the details
of the question, I will simply say that I am for
those means which will give the greatest good
to the greatest number.

In regard to the homestead law, I have to say
that in so far as the government lands can be
disposed of, I am in favor of cutting up the wild
lands into parcels, so that every poor man may
have a home.

In regard to the Germans and foreigners, I
esteem them no better than other people, nor
any worse. It is not my nature, when T see a
people borne down by the weight of their
shackles — the oppression of tyranny — to make
their life more bitter by heaping upon them
greater burdens ; but rather would I do all in my
power to raise the 3roke than to add anything
that would tend to crush them.

i86i] To Ohio Legislature 121

Inasmuch as our country is extensive and new,
and the countries of Europe are densely popu-
lated, if there are any abroad who desire to make
this the land of their adoption, it is not in my
heart to throw aught in their way to prevent
them from coming to the United States.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I will bid you
an affectionate farewell.

Address to the Legislature of Ohio at
Columbus, February 13, 1861

Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, and Gentle-
ment of the General Assembly of Ohio: It is
true, as has been said by the president of the
Senate, that very great responsibility rests upon
me in the position to which the votes of the
American people have called me. I am deeply
sensible of that weighty responsibility. I can-
not but know what you all know, that without a
name, perhaps without a reason why I should
have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such
as did not rest even upon the Father of his Coun-
try; and so feeling, I can turn and look for that
support without which it will be impossible for
me to perform that great task. I turn, then, and
look to the American people, and to that God
who has never forsaken them. Allusion has
been made to the interest felt in relation to the
policy of the new administration. In this I have

122 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 14

received from some a degree of credit for having
kept silence, and from others some deprecation.
I still think that I was right. . . .

In the varying and repeatedly shifting scenes
of the present, and without a precedent which
could enable me to judge by the past, it has
seemed fitting that before speaking upon the
difficulties of the country I should have gained
a view of the whole field, being at liberty to
modify and change the course of policy as future
events may make a change necessary.

I have not maintained silence from any want
of real anxiety. It is a good thing that there is
no more than anxiety, for there is nothing going
wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that when
we look out there is nothing that really hurts
anybody. We entertain different views upon
political questions, but nobody is suffering any-
thing. This is a most consoling circumstance,
and from it we may conclude that all we want is
time, patience, and a reliance on that God who
has never forsaken this people.

Fellow-citizens, what I have said I have said
altogether extemporaneously, and I will now
come to a close.

Address at Steubenville, Ohio, Feb. 14, 1861

I fear that the great confidence placed in my
ability is unfounded. Indeed, I am sure it is.

i86i] A^ddress at Steuben ville 123

Encompassed by vast difficulties as I am, noth-
ing shall be wanting on my part, if sustained by
God and the American people. I believe the
devotion to the Constitution is equally great on
both sides of the river. It is only the different
understanding of that instrument that causes
difficulty. The only dispute on both sides is,
"What are their rights?" If the majority should
not rule, who would be the judge? Where is
such a judge to be found? We should all be
bound by the majority of the American people;
if not, then the minority must control. Would
that be right? Would it be just or generous?
Assuredly not. I reiterate that the majority
should rule. If I adopt a wrong policy, the
opportunity for condemnation will occur in four
years' time. Then I can be turned out, and a
better man with better views put in my place.

124 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 15

Address at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Febru-
ary 15, 1 86 1

I MOST CORDIALLY thank his Honor
Mayor Wilson, and the citizens of Pitts-
burg generally, for their flattering recep-
tion. I am the more grateful because I know
that it is not given to me alone, but to the cause
I represent, which clearly proves to me their
good-will, and that sincere feeling is at the bot-
tom of it. And here I may remark that in every
short address I have made to the people, in
every crowd through which I have passed of
late, some allusion has been made to the present
distracted condition of the country. It is natural
to expect that I should say something on this
subject; but to touch upon it all would involve
an elaborate discussion of a great many ques-
tions and circumstances, requiring more time
than I can at present command, and would, per-
haps, unnecessarily commit me upon matters
which have not yet fully developed themselves.
The condition of the country is an extraordinary
one, and fills the mind of every patriot with
anxiety. It is my intention to give this subject
all the consideration I possibly can before

i86i] Address at Pittsburg 125

specially deciding in regard to it, so that when I
do speak it may be as nearly right as possible.
When I do speak I hope I may say nothing in
opposition to the spirit of the Constitution, con-
trary to the integrity of the Union, or which will
prove inimical to the liberties of the people, or
to the peace of the whole country. And, fur-
thermore, when the time arrives for me to speak
on this great subject, I hope I may say nothing
to disappoint the people generally throughout
the country, especially if the expectation has
been based upon anything which I may have
heretofore said. Notwithstanding the troubles
across the river [the speaker pointing south-
wardly across the Monongahela, and smiling],
there is no crisis but an artificial one. What is
there now to warrant the condition of affairs
presented by our friends over the river? Take
even their own view of the questions involved,
and there is nothing to justify the course they
are pursuing. I repeat, then, there is no crisis,
excepting such a one as may be gotten up at any
time by turbulent men aided by designing poli-
ticians. My advice to them, under such cir-
cumstances, is to keep cool. If the great Ameri-
can people only keep their temper on both sides
of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and
the question which now distracts the country
will be settled, just as surely as all other diffi-

126 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 15

culties of a like character which have originated
in this government have been adjusted. Let the
people on both sides keep their self-possession,
and just as other clouds have cleared away in
due time, so will this great nation continue to
prosper as heretofore. But, fellow-citizens, I
have spoken longer on this subject than I in-
tended at the outset.

It is often said that the tariff is the specialty
of Pennsylvania. Assuming that direct taxation
is not to be adopted, the tariff question must be
as durable as the government itself. It is a ques-
tion of national housekeeping. It is to the
government what replenishing the meal-tub is to
the family. Ever-varying circumstances will re-
quire frequent modifications as to the amount
needed and the sources of supply. So far there
is little difference of opinion among the people.
It is as to whether, and how far, duties on im-
ports shall be adjusted to favor home production
in the home market, that controversy begins.
One party insists that such adjustment oppresses
one class for the advantage of another; while the
other party argues that, with all its incidents, in
the long run all classes are benefited. In the
Chicago platform there is a plank upon this
subject which should be a general law to the
incoming administration. We should do neither
more nor less than we gave the people reason

i86i] Address at Pittsburg 127

to believe we would when they gave us their
votes. Permit me, fellow-citizens, to read the
tariff plank of the Chicago platform, or rather
have it read in your hearing by one who has
younger eyes.

Mr. Lincoln's private secretary then read
Section 12 of the Chicago platform, as follows:

That while providing revenue for the support of
the General Government by duties upon imports,
sound policy requires such an adjustment of these im-
posts as will encourage the development of the indus-
trial interest of the whole country; and we commend
that policy of national exchanges which secures to
working-men liberal wages, to agriculture remuner-
ating prices, to mechanics and manufacturers adequate
reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the
nation commercial prosperity and independence.

Mr. Lincoln resumed: As with all general
propositions, doubtless there will be shades of
difference in construing this. I have by no
means a thoroughly matured judgment upon
this subject, especially as to details; some gen-
eral ideas are about all. I have long thought it
would be to our advantage to produce any neces-
sary article at home which can be made of as
good quality and with as little labor at home as
abroad, at least by the difference of the carrying
from abroad. In such case the carrying is

128 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 15

demonstrably a dead loss of labor. For instance,
labor being the true standard of value, is it not
plain that if equal labor get a bar of railroad
iron out of a mine in England, and another out
of a mine in Pennsylvania, each can be laid
down in a track at home cheaper than they could
exchange countries, at least by the carriage? If
there be a present cause why one can be both
made and carried cheaper in money price than
the other can be made without carrying, that
cause is an unnatural and injurious one, and
ought gradually, if not rapidly, to be removed.
The condition of the treasury at this time would
seem to render an early revision of the tariff in-
dispensable. The Morrill [tariff] bill, now
pending before Congress, may or may not be-
come a law. I am not posted as to its particular
provisions, but if they are generally satisfactory,
and the bill shall now pass, there will be an end
for the present. If, however, it shall not pass,
I suppose the whole subject will be one of the
most pressing and important for the next Con-
gress. By the Constitution, the executive may
recommend measures which he may think
proper, and he may veto those he thinks im-
proper, and it is supposed that he may add to
these certain indirect influences to affect the
action of Congress. My political education
strongly inclines me against a very free use of

i86i] Address at Cleveland 129

any of these means by the executive to control
the legislation of the country. As a rule, I think
it better that Congress should originate as well
as perfect its measures without external bias. I
therefore would rather recommend to every
gentlemen who knows he is to be a member of
the next Congress to take an enlarged view, and
post himself thoroughly, so as to contribute his
part to such an adjustment of the tariff as shall
produce a sufficient revenue, and in its other
bearings, so far as possible, be just and equal to
all sections of the country and classes of the
people.

Address at Cleveland, Ohio, February 15,
1861

Fellow-citizens of Cleveland and Ohio: We
have come here upon a very inclement after-
noon. We have marched for two miles through
the rain and the mud.

The large numbers that have turned out under
these circumstances testify that you are in earnest
about something, and what is that something? I
would not have you suppose that I think this
extreme earnestness is about me. I should be
exceedingly sorry to see such devotion if that
were the case. But I know it is paid to some-
thing worth more than any one man, or any
thousand or ten thousand men. You have as-

130 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 15

sembled to testify your devotion to the Constitu-
tion, to the Union, and the laws, to the perpetual
liberty of the people of this country. It is,
fellow-citizens, for the whole American people,
and not for one single man alone, to advance the
great cause of the Union and the Constitution.
And in a country like this, where every man
bears on his face the marks of intelligence, where
every man's clothing, if I may so speak, shows
signs of comfort, and every dwelling signs of
happiness and contentment, where schools and
churches abound on every side, the Union can
never be in danger. I would, if I could, instil
some degree of patriotism and confidence into
the political mind in relation to this matter.

Frequent allusion is made to the excitement
at present existing in our national politics, and
it is as well that I should also allude to it here.
I think that there is no occasion for any ex-
citement. I think the crisis, as it is called, is
altogether an artificial one. In all parts of the
nation there are differences of opinion on poli-
tics; there are differences of opinion even here.
You did not all vote for the person who now
addresses you, although quite enough of you did
for all practical purposes, to be sure.

What they do who seek to destroy the Union
is altogether artificial. What is happening to
hurt them? Have they not all their rights now

i86i] Address at Cleveland 131

as they ever have had? Do not they have their
fugitive slaves returned now as ever? Have
they not the same Constitution that they have
lived under for seventy-odd years? Have they
not a position as citizens of this common coun-
try, and have we any power to change that
position? [Cries of "No!"] What then is the
matter with them? Why all this excitement?
Why all these complaints? As I said before,
this crisis is altogether artificial. It has no
foundation in fact. It can't be argued up, and
it can't be argued down. Let it alone, and it
w^ill go down of itself.

I have not strength, fellow-citizens, to ad-
dress you at great length, and I pray that you
will excuse me ; but rest assured that my thanks
are as cordial and sincere for the efficient aid
which you will give to the good cause in w^ork-
ing for the good of the nation, as for the votes
you gave me last fall.

There is one feature that causes me great
pleasure, and that is to learn that this reception
is given, not alone by those with whom I chance
to agree politically, but by all parties. I think
I am not selfish when I say this is as it should
be. If Judge Douglas had been chosen Presi-
dent of the United States, and had this evening
been passing through your city, the Republicans
should have joined his supporters in welcoming

132 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. i6

him just as his friends have joined with mine
to-night. If we do not make common cause to
save the good old ship of the Union on this
voyage, nobody will have a chance to pilot her
on another voyage.

To all of you, then, who have done me the
honor to participate in this cordial welcome, I
return most sincerely my thanks, not for myself,
but for Liberty, the Constitution, and Union.

I bid you an affectionate farewell.

Address at Buffalo, New York, February i6,
1861

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens of Buffalo
and the State of New York: I am here to thank
you briefly for this grand reception given to me,
not personally, but as the representative of our
great and beloved country. Your worthy mayor
has been pleased to mention, in his address to
me, the fortunate and agreeable journey which
I have had from home, on my rather circuitous
route to the Federal capital. I am very happy
that he was enabled in truth to congratulate my-
self and company on that fact. It is true we
have had nothing thus far to mar the pleasure of
the trip. We have not been met alone by those
who assisted in giving the election to me — I say
not alone by them, but by the whole population
of the country through which we have passed.

i86i] Address at Buffalo 133

This is as it should be. Had the election fallen
to any other of the distinguished candidates in-
stead of myself, under the peculiar circum-
stances, to say the least, it would have been
proper for all citizens to have greeted him as
you now greet me. It is an evidence of the de-
votion of the whole people to the Constitution,
the Union, and the perpetuity of the liberties of
this country. I am unwilling on any occasion
that I should be so meanly thought of as to have
it supposed for a moment that these demonstra-
tions are tendered to me personally. They are
tendered to the country, to the institutions of the
country, and to the perpetuity of the liberties of
the country, for which these institutions were
made and created.

Your worthy mayor has thought fit to express
the hope that I may be able to relieve the coun-
try from the present, or, I should say, the
threatened difficulties. I am sure I bring a heart
true to the work. For the ability to perform it,
I must trust in that Supreme Being who has
never forsaken this favored land, through the
instrumentality of this great and intelligent
people. Without that assistance I shall surely
fail; with it, I cannot fail. When we speak of
threatened difficulties to the country, it is natural
that it should be expected that something should
be said by myself with regard to particular

134 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. i8

measures. Upon more mature reflection, how-
ever, others will agree with me that, when it is
considered that these difficulties are without prec-
edent, and have never been acted upon by any
individual situated as I am, it is most proper I
should wait and see the developments, and get
all the light possible, so that when I do speak
authoritatively, I may be as near right as pos-
sible.

When I shall speak authoritatively, I hope
to say nothing inconsistent with the Constitu-
tion, the Union, the rights of all the States, of
each State, and of each section of the country,
and not to disappoint the reasonable expecta-
tions of those who have confided to me their
votes. In this connection allow me to say that
you, as a portion of the great American people,
need only to maintain your composure, stand up
to your sober convictions of right, to your obli-
gations to the Constitution, and act in accord-
ance with those sober convictions, and the clouds
now on the horizon will be dispelled, and we
shall have a bright and glorious future; and
when this generation has passed away, tens of
thousands will inhabit this country where only
thousands inhabit it now. I do not propose to ad-
dress you at length; I have no voice for it.
Allow me again to thank you for this magnifi-
cent reception, and bid you farewell.

i86i] Address at Syracuse 135

Address at Rochester, New York, February
18, 1861

I confess myself, after having seen many large
audiences since leaving home, overwhelmed
with this vast number of faces at this hour of
the morning. I am not vain enough to believe
that you are here from any wish to see me as an
individual, but because I am for the time being
the representative of the American people. I
could not, if I would, address you at any length.
I have not the strength, even if I had the time,
for a speech at each of these many interviews
that are afforded me on my way to Washington.
I appear merely to see you, and to let you see
me, and to bid you farewell. I hope it will be
understood that it is from no disinclination to
oblige anybody that I do not address you at
greater length.

Address at Syracuse, New York, February
18, 1861

Ladies and Gentlemen: I see you have
erected a very fine and handsome platform here
for me, and I presume you expected me to speak
from it. If I should go upon it, you would
imagine that I was about to deliver you a much
longer speech than I am. I wish you to under-
stand that I mean no discourtesy to you by thus

136 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 18

declining. I intend discourtesy to no one. But
I wish you to understand that though I am un-
willing to go upon this platform, you are not at
liberty to draw any inferences concerning any
other platform with which my name has been or
is connected. I wish you long life and pros-
perity individually, and pray that with the per-
petuity of those institutions under which we
have all so long lived and prospered, our hap-
piness may be secured, our future made bril-
liant, and the glorious destiny of our country
established forever. I bid you a kind farewell.

Address at Utica, New York, February 18,
1861

Ladies and Gentlemen: I have no speech to
make to you, and no time to speak in. I appear
before you that I may see you, and that you may
see me; and I am willing to admit, that so far
as the ladies are concerned, I have the best of
the bargain, though I wish it to be understood
that I do not make the same acknowledgment
concerning the men.

Reply to the Mayor of Albany, New York,
February 18, 1861
Mr, Mayor: I can hardly appropriate to my-
self the flattering terms in which you commun-
icate the tender of this reception, as personal

i86i] Reply to Albany Mayor 137

to myself. I most gratefully accept the hospi-
talities tendered to me, and will not detain you
or the audience with any extended remarks at
this time. I presume that in the two or three
courses through which I shall have to go, I
shall have to repeat somewhat, and I will there-
fore only express to you my thanks for this kind
reception.

138 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 18

Reply to Governor Morgan of New York,
AT Albany, February 18, 1861

GOVERNOR MORGAN: I was pleased
to receive an invitation to visit the
capital of the great Empire State of
this nation while on my way to the Federal
capital. I now thank you, Mr. Governor, and
you, the people of the capital of the State of
New York, for this most hearty and magnificent
welcome. If I am not at fault, the great Em-
pire State at this time contains a larger popula-
tion than did the whole of the United States of
America at the time they achieved their na-
tional independence, and I was proud to be
invited to visit its capital, to meet its citizens,
as I now have the honor to do. I am notified
by your governor that this reception is tendered
by citizens without distinction of party. Be-
cause of this I accept it the more gladly. In
this country, and in any country where freedom
of thought is tolerated, citizens attach them-
selves to political parties. It is but an ordinary
degree of charity to attribute this act to the sup-
position that in thus attaching themselves to the

i86i] Reply to Governor Morgan 139

various parties, each man in his own judgment
supposes he thereby best advances the interests
of the whole country. And when an election is
past, it is altogether befitting a free people, as
I suppose, that, until the next election, they
should be one people. The reception you have
extended me to-day is not given to me person-
ally,— it should not be so, — but as the represen-
tative, for the time being, of the majority of
the nation. If the election had fallen to any
of the more distinguished citizens who received
the support of the people, this same honor
should have greeted him that greets me this day,
in testimony of the universal, unanimous devo-
tion of the whole people to the Constitution, the
Union, and to the perpetual liberties of succeed-
ing generations in this country.

I have neither the voice nor the strength to
address you at any greater length. I beg you
will therefore accept my most grateful thanks
for this manifest devotion — not to me, but the
institutions of this great and glorious country.

Address to the Legislature of New York,
AT Albany, February 18, i86r

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the General
Assembly of the State of New York: It is with
feelings of great diffidence, and, I may say, with
feelings of awe, perhaps greater than I have re-

140 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. i8

cently experienced, that I meet you here in this
place. The history of this great State, the re-
nown of those great men who have stood here,
and have spoken here, and been heard here, all
crowd around my fancy, and incline me to
shrink from any attempt to address you. Yet I
have some confidence given me by the generous
manner in which you have invited me, and by
the still more generous manner in which you
have received me, to speak further. You have
invited and received me without distinction of
party. I cannot for a moment suppose that this
has been done in any considerable degree with
reference to my personal services, but that it is
done, in so far as I am regarded, at this time, as
the representative of the majesty of this great
nation. I doubt not this is the truth, and the
whole truth, of the case, and this is as it should
be. It is much more gratifying to me that this
reception has been given to me as the elected
representative of a free peope, than it could pos-
sibly be if tendered merely as an evidence of de-
votion to me, or to any one man personally.

And now I think it were more fitting that I
should close these hasty remarks. It is true that,
while I hold myself, without mock modesty, the
humblest of all individuals that have ever been
elevated to the presidency, I have a more diffi-
cult task to perform than any one of them.

i86i] To New York Legislature 141

You have generously tendered me the support
— the united support — of the great Empire
State. For this, in behalf of the nation — in be-
half of the present and future of the nation — in
behalf of civil and religious liberty for all time
to come, most gratefully do I thank you. I do
not propose to enter into an explanation of any
particular line of policy, as to our present diffi-
culties, to be adopted by the incoming adminis-
tration. I deem it just to you, to myself, to all,
that I should see everything, that I should hear
everything, that I should have every light that
can be brought within my reach, in order that,
when I do so speak, I shall have enjoyed every
opportunity to take correct and true ground;
and for this reason I do not propose to speak
at this time of the policy of the government.
But when the time comes, I shall speak, as well
as I am able, for the good of the present and
future of this country — for the good both of the
North and of the South — for the good of the one
and the other, and of all sections of the country.
In the mean time, if we have patience, if we re-
strain ourselves, if we allow ourselves not to
run off in a passion, I still have confidence that
the Almighty, the Maker of the universe, will,
through the instrumentality of this great and in-
telligent people, bring us through this as he has
through all the other difficulties of our country.

142 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 19

Relying on this, I again thank you for this gen-
erous reception.

Address at Troy, New York, February 19,
1861

Mr. Mayor and Citizens of Troy: I thank
you very kindly for this great reception. Since
I left my home it has not been my fortune to
meet an assemblage more numerous and more
orderly than this. I am the more gratified at
this mark of your regard, since you assure me it
is tendered, not to the individual, but to the high
office you have called me to fill. I have neither
strength nor time to make any extended remarks
on this occasion, and I can only repeat to you
my sincere thanks for the kind reception you
have thought proper to extend to me.

Address at Poughkeepsie, New York, Febru-
ary 19, 1861

Fellow-citizens: It is altogether impossible
I should make myself heard by any considerable
portion of this vast assemblage; but, although I
appear before you mainly for the purpose of
seeing you, and to let you see rather than hear
me, I cannot refrain from saying that I am
highly gratified — as much here, indeed, under
the circumstances, as I have been anywhere on
my route — to witness this noble demonstration^

i86i] Address at Poughkeepsie 143

made, not in honor of an individual, but of the
man who at this time humbly, but earnestly,
represents the majesty of the nation.

This reception, like all the others that have
been tendered to me, doubtless emanates from
all the political parties, and not from one alone.
As such I accept it the more gratefully, since it
indicates an earnest desire on the part of the
w^hole people, without regard to political differ-
ences, to save — not the country, because the
country will save itself — but to save the institu-
tions of the country — those institutions under
which, in the last three quarters of a century, we
have grown to a great, an intelligent, and a
happy people — the greatest, the most intelligent,
and the happiest people in the world. These
noble manifestations indicate, with unerring cer-
tainty, that the whole people are willing to make
common cause for this object; that if, as it ever
must be, some have been successful in the recent
election, and some have been beaten — if some
are satisfied, and some are dissatisfied, the de-
feated party are not in favor of sinking the ship,
but are desirous of running it through the
tempest in safety, and willing, if they think the
people have committed an error in their verdict
now, to wait in the hope of reversing it, and
setting it right next time. I do not say that in
the recent election the people did the wisest

144 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 19

thing that could have been done; indeed, I do
not think they did; but I do say that in accept-
ing the great trust committed to me, which I do
with a determination to endeavor to prove
worthy of it, I must rely upon you, upon the
people of the whole country, for support; and
with their sustaining aid, even I, humble as I
am, cannot fail to carry the ship of state safely
through the storm.

I have now only to thank you warmly for your
kind attendance, and bid you all an affectionate
farewell.

Address at Hudson, New York, February 19,
1861

Fellow-citizens: I see that you have pro-
vided a platform, but I shall have to decline
standing on it. The superintendent tells me I
have not time during our brief stay to leave the
train. I had to decline standing on some very
handsome platforms prepared for me yesterday.
But I say to you, as I said to them, you must not
on this account draw the inference that I have
any intention to desert any platform I have a
legitimate right to stand on. I do not appear
before you for the purpose of making a speech.
I come only to see you, and to give you the op-
portunity to see me ; and I say to you, as I have
before said to crowds where there were so many

i86i] Address at New York City 145

handsome ladies as there are here, I think I have
decidedly the best of the bargain. I have only,
therefore, to thank you most cordially for this
kind reception, and bid you all farewell.

Address at Peekskill, New York, February
19, 1861

Ladies and Gentlemen: I have but a moment
to stand before you to listen to and return your
kind greeting. I thank you for this reception,
and for the pleasant manner in which it is ten-
dered to me by our mutual friends. I will say
in a single sentence, in regard to the difficulties
that lie before me and our beloved country, that
if I can only be as generously and unanimously
sustained as the demonstrations I have witnessed
indicate I shall be, I shall not fail; but without
your sustaining hands I am sure that neither I
nor any other man can hope to surmount these
difficulties. I trust that in the course I shall
pursue I shall be sustained not only by the party
that elected me, but by the patriotic people of
the whole country.

Address at New York City, February 19,
1861

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I am rather
an old man to avail myself of such an excuse as
I am now about to do. Yet the truth is so dis-

146 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 19

tinct, and presses itself so distinctly upon me,
that I cannot well avoid it — and that is, that I
did not understand when I was brought into this
room that I was to be brought here to make a
speech. It was not intimated to me that I was
brought into the room where Daniel Webster
and Henry Clay had made speeches, and where
one in my position might be expected to do
something like those men or say something
worthy of myself or my audience. I therefore
beg you to make allowance for the circumstances
in which I have been by surprise brought before
you. Now I have been in the habit of thinking
and sometimes speaking upon political ques-
tions that have for some years past agitated the
country; and, if I were disposed to do so, and we
could take up some one of the issues, as the
lawyers call them, and I were called upon to
make an argument about it to the best of my
ability, I could do so without much preparation.
But that is not what you desire to have done here
to-night.

I have been occupying a position, since the
presidential election, of silence — of avoiding
i public speaking, of avoiding public writ-
ing. I have been doing so because I thought,
upon full consideration, that was the
proper course for me to take. I am brought be-
fore you now, and required to make a speech,

i86i] Address at New York City 147

when you all approve more than anything else
of the fact that I have been keeping silence.
And now it seems to me that the response you
give to that remark ought to justify me in closing
just here. I have not kept silence since the presi-
dential election from any party wantonness, or
from any indifference to the anxiety that per-
vades the minds of men about the aspect of the
political affairs of this country. I have kept
silence for the reason that I supposed it was
peculiarly proper that I should do so until the
time came when, according to the custom of
the country, I could speak officially.

I still suppose that, while the political drama
being enacted in this country, at this time, is
rapidly shifting its scenes — forbidding an an-
ticipation with any degree of certainty, to-day,
of what we shall see to-morrow — it is peculiarly
fitting that I should see it all, up to the last
minute, before I should take ground that I might
be disposed (by the shifting of the scenes after-
ward) also to shift. I have said several times
upon this journey, and I now repeat it to you,
that when the time does come, I shall then take
the ground that I think is right — right for the
North, for the South, for the East, for the West,
for the whole country. And in doing so, I hope
to feel no necessity pressing upon me to say any-
thing in conflict with the Constitution; in con-

148 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 20

flict with the continued union of these States, in
conflict with the perpetuation of the liberties of
this people, or anything in conflict with anything
whatever that I have ever given you reason to
expect from me. And now, my friends, have I
said enough? [Loud cries of ^'No, no!" and
"Three cheers for Lincoln!"] Now, my friends,
there appears to be a difference of opinion be-
tween you and me, and I really feel called upon
to decide the question myself.

i86i] To New York City Mayor 149

Reply to the Mayor of New York City,
February 20, 1861

MR. MAYOR: It is with feelings of
deep gratitude that I make my ac-
knowledgments for the reception that
has been given me in the great commercial
city of New York. I cannot but remember that
it is done by the people who do not, by a large
majority, agree with me in political sentiment.
It is the more grateful to me because in this I
see that for the great principles of our govern-
ment the people are pretty nearly or quite
unanimous. In regard to the difficulties that
confront us at this time, and of which you have
seen fit to speak so becomingly and so justly, I
can only say I agree with the sentiments ex-
pressed. In my devotion to the Union, I hope
I am behind no man in the nation. As to my
wisdom in conducting affairs so as to tend to
the preservation of the Union, I fear too
great confidence may have been placed in
me. I am sure I bring a heart devoted to the
work. There is nothing that could ever bring
me to consent — willingly to consent — to the de-
struction of this Union (in which not only the

I50 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 21

great city of New York, but the whole country,
has acquired its greatness), unless it would be
that thing for which the Union itself was made.
I understand that the ship is made for the carry-
ing and preservation of the cargo; and so long
as the ship is safe with the cargo, it shall not be
abandoned. This Union shall never be aban-
doned, unless the possibility of its existence shall
cease to exist without the necessity of throwing
passengers and cargo overboard. So long, then,
as it is possible that the prosperity and liber-
ties of this people can be preserved within this
Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to
preserve it. And now, Mr. Mayor, renewing
my thanks for this cordial reception, allow me
to come to a close.

Address to the Senate of New Jersey,
February 21, 1861

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate
of the State of New Jersey: I am very grateful
to you for the honorable reception of which I
have been the object. I cannot but remember
the place that New Jersey holds in our early
history. In the Revolutionary struggle few of
the States among the Old Thirteen had more of
the battlefields of the country within their
limits than New Jersey. May I be pardoned if,
upon this occasion, I mention that away back

i86i] To New Jersey Senate 151

in my childhood, the earliest days of my being
able to read, I got hold of a small book, such a
one as few of the younger members have ever
seen — Weems' "Life of Washington." I re-
member all the accounts there given of the
battle-fields and struggles for the liberties of the
country, and none fixed themselves upon my
imagination so deeply as the struggle here at
Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river,
the contest with the Hessians, the great hard-
ships endured at that time, all fixed themselves
on my memory more than any single Revolution-
ary event; and you all know, for you have all
been boys, how these early impressions last
longer than any others. I recollect thinking
then, boy even though I was, that there must
have been something more than common that
these men struggled for. I am exceedingly
anxious that that thing — that something even
more than national independence; that some-
thing that held out a great promise to all the
people of the world to all time to come — I am
exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Con-
stitution, and the liberties of the people shall be
perpetuated in accordance with the original idea
for which that struggle was made, and I shall
be most happy indeed if I shall be a humble in-
strument in the hands of the Almighty and of
this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating

1^2 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 21

the object of that great struggle. You give me
this reception, as I understand, without distinc-
tion of party. I learn that this body is com-
posed of a majority of gentlemen who, in the
exercise of their best judgment in the choice of
a chief magistrate, did not think I was the man.
I understand, nevertheless, that they come for-
ward here to greet me as the constitutionally
elected President of the United States — as citi-
zens of the United States to meet the man who,
for the time being, is the representative of the
majesty of the nation — united by the single pur-
pose to perpetuate the Constitution, the Union,
and the liberties of the people. As such, I ac-
cept this reception more gratefully than I could
do did I believe it were tendered to me as an
individual.

Address to the Assembly of New Jersey,

February 21, 1861

Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen: I have just en-
joyed the honor of a reception by the other
branch of this legislature, and I return to you
and them my thanks for the reception which the
people of New Jersey have given through their
chosen representatives to me as the representa-
tive, for the time being, of the majesty of the
people of the United States. I appropriate to
myself very little of the demonstrations of re-

i86i] To New Jersey Assembly i53

spect with which I have been greeted. I think
little should be given to any man, but that it
should be a manifestation of adherence to the
Union and the Constitution. I understand my-
self to be received here by the representatives of
the people of New Jersey, a majority of whom
differ in opinion from those with whom I have
acted. This manifestation is therefore to be re-
garded by me as expressing their devotion to
the Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of
the people.

You, Mr. Speaker, have well said that this is
a time when the bravest and wisest look with
doubt and awe upon the aspect presented by
our national affairs. Under these circumstances
you will readily see why I should not speak in
detail of the course I shall deem it best to pursue.
It is proper that I should avail myself of all the
information and all the time at my command, in
order that when the time arrives in which I must
speak officially, I shall be able to take the
ground which I deem best and safest, and from
which I may have no occasion to swerve. I shall
endeavor to take the ground I deem most just
to the North, the East, the West, the South, and
the whole country. I take it, I hope, in good
temper, certainly with no malice toward any
section. I shall do all that may be in my power
to promote a peaceful settlement of all our diffi-

154 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 21

culties. The man does not live who is more de-
voted to peace than I am, none who would do
more to preserve it, but it may be necessary to
put the foot down firmly. [Here the audience
broke out into cheers so loud and long that for
some moments it was impossible to hear Mr.
Lincoln's voice.] And if I do my duty and do
right, you will sustain me, will you not? [Loud
cheers, and cries of "Yes, yes; we will."] Re-
ceived as I am by the members of a legislature
the majority of whom do not agree with me in
political sentiments, I trust that I may have their
assistance in piloting the ship of state through
this voyage, surrounded by perils as it is; for if
it should suffer wreck now, there will be no pilot
ever needed for another voyage.

Gentlemen, I have already spoken longer than
I intended, and must beg leave to stop here.

Reply to the Mayor of Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania, February 21, 1861

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens of Philadel-
phia: I appear before you to make no lengthy
speech, but to thank you for this reception.
The reception you have given me to-night is not
to me, the man, the individual, but to the man
who temporarily represents, or should represent,
the majesty of the nation. It is true, as your
worthy mayor has said, that there is great anxiety

i86i] To Philadelphia Mayor 155

amongst the citizens of the United States at this
time. I deem it a happy circumstance that this
dissatisfied portion of our fellow-citizens does
not point us to anything in which they are being
injured or about to be injured; for which reason
I have felt all the while justified in concluding
that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety of the coun-
try at this time, is artificial. If there be those
who differ with me upon this subject, they have
not pointed out the substantial difficulty that
exists. I do not mean to say that an artificial
panic may not do considerable harm; that it has
done such I do not deny. The hope that has
been expressed by your mayor, that I may be
able to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity
to the country, is most worthy of him; and most
happy, indeed, will I be if I shall be able to
verify and fulfil that hope. I promise you that
I bring to the work a sincere heart. Whether
I will bring a head equal to that heart will be for
future times to determine. It were useless for
me to speak of details of plans now; I shall
speak officially next Monday week, if ever. If
I should not speak then, it were useless for me to
do so now. If I do speak then, it is useless for
me to do so now. When I do speak, I shall
take such ground as I deem best calculated to
restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the
country, and tend to the perpetuity of the nation

156 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 22

and the liberty of these States and these people.
Your worthy mayor has expressed the wish, in
which I join with him, that it were convenient
for me to remain in your city long enough to
consult your merchants and manufacturers; or,
as it were, to listen to those breathings rising
within the consecrated walls wherein the Con-
stitution of the United States, and, I will add,
the Declaration of Independence, were orig-
inally framed and adopted. I assure you and
your mayor that I had hoped on this occasion,
and upon all occasions during my life, that I
shall do nothing inconsistent with the teachings
of these holy and most sacred walls. I have
never asked anything that does not breathe from
those walls. All my political warfare has been
in favor of the teachings that come forth from
these sacred walls. May my right hand forget
its cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth if ever I prove false to those teachings.
Fellow-citizens, I have addressed you longer
than I expected to do, and now allow me to bid
you good-night.

Address in Independence Hall, Philadel-
phia, February 22, 1861

Mr. Cuyler: I am filled with deep emotion
at finding myself standing in this place, where
were collected together the wisdom, the patriot-

i86i] Independence Hall Address 157

ism, the devotion to principle, from which
sprang the institutions under which we live.
You have kindly suggested to me that in my
hands is the task of restoring peace to our dis-
tracted country. I can say in return, sir, that all
the political sentiments I entertain have been
drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them,
from the sentiments which originated in and
were given to the world from this hall. I have
never had a feeling, politically, that did not
spring from the sentiments embodied in the
Declaration of Independence. I have often
pondered over the dangers which were incurred
by the men who assembled here and framed and
adopted that Declaration. I have pondered over
the toils that were endured by the officers and
soldiers of the army who achieved that indepen-
dence. I have often inquired of myself what
great principle or idea it was that kept this Con-
federacy so long together. It was not the mere
matter of separation of the colonies from the
motherland, but that sentiment in the Declara-
tion of Independence which gave liberty not
alone to the people of this country, but hope to
all the world, for all future time. It was that
which gave promise that in due time the weights
would be lifted from the shoulders of all men,
and that all should have an equal chance. This
is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of

1^8 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 22

Independence. Now, my friends, can this coun-
try be saved on that basis? If it can, I will con-
sider myself one of the happiest men in the
world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be
saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful.
But if this country cannot be saved without
giving up that principle, I was about to say I
would rather be assassinated on this spot than
surrender it. Now, in my view of the present
aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed
and war. There is no necessity for it. I am not
in favor of such a course; and I may say in ad-
vance that there will be no bloodshed unless it is
forced upon the government. The government
will not use force, unless force is used against it.
My friends, this is wholly an unprepared
speech. I did not expect to be called on to say
a word when I came here. I supposed I was
merely to do something toward raising a flag. I
may, therefore, have said something indiscreet.
[Cries of "No, no."] But I have said nothing
but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be
the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by.

[86

i] Independence Hall Address 159

Address on Raising a Flag over Indepen-
dence Hall, Philadelphia, February 22,
1861

FELLOW-CITIZENS: I am invited
and called before you to participate in
raising above Independence Hall the flag
of our country, with an additional star upon it/
I propose now, in advance of performing this
very pleasant and complimentary duty, to say a
few words. I propose to say that when the flag
was originally raised here, it had but thirteen
stars. I wish to call your attention to the fact
that, under the blessing of God, each additional
star added to that flag has given additional pros-
perity and happiness to this country, until it has
advanced to its present condition; and its wel-
fare in the future, as well as in the past, is in
your hands. Cultivating the spirit that ani-
mated our fathers, who gave renown and celeb-
rity to this hall, cherishing that fraternal feeling
which has so long characterized us as a nation,
excluding passion, ill temper, and precipitate
action on all occasions, I think we may promise

^ The State of Kansas, which was admitted into the Union
January 29, 1861. — N. and H.

i6o Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 22

ourselves that not only the new star placed upon
that flag shall be permitted to remain there to
our permanent prosperity for years to come, but
additional ones shall from time to time be placed
there until we shall number, as it was anticipated
by the great historian, five hundred millions of
happy and prosperous people.

With these few remarks I proceed to the very
agreeable duty assigned to me.

Reply to Governor Curtin of Pennsyl-
vania, AT Harrisburg, February 22, 1861

Governor Curtin and Citizens of the State of
Pennsylvania: Perhaps the best thing that I
could do would be simply to indorse the patriotic
and eloquent speech which your governor has
just made in your hearing. I am quite sure that
I am unable to address to you anything so appro-
priate as that which he has uttered.

Reference has been made by him to the dis-
traction of the public mind at this time and to
the great task that is before me in entering upon
the administration of the General Government.
With all the eloquence and ability that your
governor brings to this theme, I am quite sure
he does not — in his situation he cannot — appre-
ciate as I do the weight of that great responsi-
bility. I feel that, under God, in the strength
of the arms and wisdom of the heads of these

i86i] Reply to Governor Curtin i6i

masses, after all, must be my support. As I
have often had occasion to say, I repeat to you —
I am quite sure I do not deceive myself v^hen I
tell you I bring to the work an honest heart; I
dare not tell you that I bring a head sufficient
for it. If my own strength should fail, I shall
at least fall back upon these masses, who, I think,
under any circumstances will not fail.

Allusion has been made to the peaceful prin-
ciples upon which this great commonwealth was
originally settled. Allow me to add my meed
of praise to those peaceful principles. I hope no
one of the Friends who originally settled here, or
who lived here since that time, or who live here
now, has been or is a more devoted lover of
peace, harmony, and concord than my humble
self.

While I have been proud to see to-day the
finest military array, I think, that I have ever
seen, allow me to say, in regard to those men,
that they give hope of what may be done when
war is inevitable. But, at the same time, allow
me to express the hope that in the shedding of
blood their services may never be needed, especi-
ally in the shedding of fraternal blood. It shall
be my endeavor to preserve the peace of this
country so far as it can possibly be done consis-
tently with the maintenance of the institutions of
the country. With my consent, or without my

1 62 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 22

great displeasure, this country shall never wit-
ness the shedding of one drop of blood in frater-
nal strife.

And now, my fellow-citizens, as I have made
many speeches, will you allow me to bid you
farewell?

Address to the Legislature of Pennsyl-
vania, AT Harrisburg, February 22, 1861

Mr. Speaker of the Senate, and also Mr,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and
Gentlemen of the General Assembly of the State
of Pennsylvania: I appear before you only for
a very few brief remarks in response to what has
been said to me. I thank you most sincerely for
this reception, and the generous words in which
support has been promised me upon this occas-
ion. I thank your great commonwealth for the
overwhelming support it recently gave, not me
personally, but the cause which I think a just
one, in the late election.

Allusion has been made to the fact — the in-
teresting fact perhaps we should say — that I for
the first time appear at the capital of the great
commonwealth of Pennsylvania upon the birth-
day of the Father of his Country. In connection
with that beloved anniversary connected with
the history of this country, I have already gone
through one exceedingly interesting scene this

i86i] Address at Harrisburg 163

morning in the ceremonies at Philadelphia.
Under the kind conduct of gentlemen there, I
was for the first time allowed the privilege of
standing in old Independence Hall to have a few
words addressed to me there, and opening up to
me an opportunity of manifesting my deep re-
gret that I had not more time to express some-
thing of my own feelings excited by the occasion,
that had been really the feelings of my whole
life.

Besides this, our friends there had provided a
magnificent flag of the country. They had ar-
ranged it so that I was given the honor of raising
it to the head of its staff, and when it went up
I was pleased that it went to its place by the
strength of my own feeble arm. When, accord-
ing to the arrangement, the cord was pulled,
and it floated gloriously to the wind, without an
accident, in the bright, glowing sunshine of the
morning, I could not help hoping that there was
in the entire success of that beautiful ceremony
at least something of an omen of what is to come.
Nor could I help feeling then, as I have often
felt, that in the whole of that proceeding I was
a very humble instrument. I had not provided
the flag; I had not made the arrangements for
elevating it to its place ; I had applied but a very
small portion of even my feeble strength in rais-
ing it. In the whole transaction I was in the

164 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 27

hands of the people who had arranged it, and if
I can have the same generous cooperation of the
people of this nation, I think the flag of our
country may yet be kept flaunting gloriously.

I recur for a moment but to repeat some words
uttered at the hotel in regard to what has been
said about the military support which the Gen-
eral Government may expect from the common-
wealth of Pennsylvania in a proper emergency.
To guard against any possible mistake do I recur
to this. It is not with any pleasure that I con-
template the possibility that a necessity may
arise in this country for the use of che military
arm. While I am exceedingly gratified to sez
the manifestation upon your streets of your mili-
tary force here, and exceedingly gratified at your
promise to use that force upon a proper emer-
gency— while I make these acknowledgments I
desire to repeat, in order to preclude any possible
misconstruction, that I do most sincerely hope
that we shall have no use for them ; that it will
never become their duty to shed blood, and most
especially never to shed fraternal blood. I
promise that so far as I may have wisdom to
direct, if so painful a result shall in any wise be
brought about, it shall be through no fault of
mine.

Allusion has also been made by one of your
honored speakers to some remarks recently made

i86i] Reply to Washington Mayor 165

by myself at Pittsburg in regard to what is sup-
posed to be the especial interest of this great
commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I now wish
only to say in regard to that matter, that the few
remarks which I uttered on that occasion were
rather carefully worded. I took pains that they
should be so. I have seen no occasion since to
add to them or subtract from them. I leave
them precisely as they stand, adding only now
that I am pleased to have an expression from
you, gentlemen of Pennsylvania, signifying that
they are satisfactory to you.

And now, gentlemen of the General Assembly
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, allow
me again to return to you my most sincere
thanks.

Reply to the Mayor of Washington, D. C,
February 27, 1861

Mr. Mayor: I thank you, and through you
the municipal authorities of this city who accom-
pany you, for this welcome. And as it is the
first time in my life, since the present phase of
politics has presented itself in this country, that
I have said anything publicly within a region
of country where the institution of slavery exists,
I will take this occasion to say that I think very
much of the ill feeling that has existed and still
exists between the people in the section from

1 66 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 28

which I came and the people here, is dependent
upon a misunderstanding of one another. I
therefore avail myself of this opportunity to
assure you, Mr. Mayor, and all the gentlemen
present, that I have not now, and never have
had, any other than as kindly feelings toward
you as to the people of my own section. I have
not now, and never have had, any disposition to
treat you in any respect otherwise than as my
own neighbors. I have not now any purpose to
withhold from you any of the benefits of the
Constitution, under any circumstances, that I
would not feel myself constrained to withhold
from my own neighbors ; and I hope, in a word,
that when we shall become better acquainted —
and I say it with great confidence — we shall like
each other better. I thank you for the kindness
of this reception.

Reply to a Serenade at Washington, D. C,
February 28, 1861

My Friends: I suppose that I may take this
as a compliment paid to me, and as such please
accept my thanks for it. I have reached this
city of Washington under circumstances con-
siderably differing from those under which any
other man has ever reached it. I am here for
the purpose of taking an official position amongst
the people, almost all of whom were politically

i86i] Reply to Serenade 167

opposed to me, and are yet opposed to me, as I
suppose.

I propose no lengthy address to you. I only
propose to say, as I did on yesterday, when your
worthy mayor and board of aldermen called
upon me, that I thought much of the ill feeling
that has existed between you and the people of
your surroundings and that people from among
whom I came, has depended, and now depends
upon a misunderstanding.

I hope that, if things shall go along as pros-
perously as I believe we all desire they may, I
may have it in my power to remove something
of this misunderstanding; that I may be enabled
to convince you, and the peopleof your section of
the country, that we regard you as in all things
our equals, and in all things entitled to the same
respect and the same treatment that we claim for
ourselves ; that we are in no wise disposed, if it
were in our power, to oppress you, to deprive
you of any of your rights under the Constitution
of the United States, or even narrowly to split
hairs with you in regard to these rights, but are
determined to give you, as far as lies in our
hands, all your rights under the Constitution —
not grudgingly, but fully and fairly. I hope
that, by thus dealing with you, we will become
better acquainted, and be better friends.

And now, my friends, with these few remarks,

1 68 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

and again returning my thanks for this compli-
ment, and expressing my desire to hear a little
more of your good music, I bid you good-night.

Letter to William H. Seward

(Private.)

Willard's Hotel,

Washington, March i, 1861.
Dear Sir: If a successor to General Twiggs
is attempted to be appointed, do not allow it to
be done.

Yours in haste,

A. Lincoln,

William H. Seward

Wood Engraving after a Rare Daguerreotype taken

about i8si'

i86i] First Inaugural Address 169

First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861'

FELLOW-CITIZENS of the United
States: In compliance with a custom
as old as the government itself, I ap-
pear before you to address you briefly, and to
take in your presence the oath prescribed by the
Constitution of the United States to be taken by
the President "before he enters on the execution
of his office."

I do not consider it necessary at present for
me to discuss those matters of administration
about which there is no special anxiety or excite-
ment.

Apprehension seems to exist among the people

1 When reading Lincoln's first Inaugural it is well to recall the
terrible conditions existing throughout the land early in 1861.
From January gth to February ist Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana and Texas had joined South Carolina in se-
ceding from the Union and had formed a provisional government
with slavery for its cornerstone. Since December, i860, Major
Anderson had been besieged in Fort Sumter in Charleston Har-
bor. Lincoln was careful to seek the best advice in the prepara-
tion of this Inaugural. After Judge Davis, O. H. Browning and
Frank P. Blair, Sr., had criticised it, W. H. Seward was asked
for an opinion. He thought it " strong and conclusive," but
suggested some words of affection and confidence. This led to
the poetic close of the address, the idea being Seward's, the
language Lincoln's.

170 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

of the Southern States that by the accession of a
Republican administration their property and
their peace and personal security are to be en-
dangered. There has never been any reasonable
cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while
existed and been open to their inspection. It is
found in nearly all the published speeches of
him who now addresses you. I do but quote
from one of those speeches when I declare that
*'I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to in-
terfere with the institution of slavery in the
States where it exists. I believe I have no law-
ful right to do so, and I have no inclination to
do so." Those who nominated and elected me
did so with full knowledge that I had made this
and many similar declarations, and had never
recanted them.

And, more than this, they placed in the plat-
form for my acceptance, and as a law to them-
selves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolu-
tion which I now read :

Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the
rights of the States, and especially the right of each
State to order and control its own domestic institu-
tions according to its own judgment exclusively, is
essential to that balance of power on which the per-
fection and endurance of our political fabric depend,
and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force

i86i] First Inaugural Address 171

of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under
what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.

I now reiterate these sentiments ; and, in doing
so, I only press upon the public attention the
most conclusive evidence of which the case is
susceptible, that the property, peace, and secur-
ity of no section are to be in any wise endangered
by the now incoming administration. I add, too,
that all the protection w^hich, consistently with
the Constitution and the law^s, can be given, will
be cheerfully given to all the States when law-
fully demanded, for whatever cause — as cheer-
fully to one section as to another.

There is much controversy about the deliver-
ing up of fugitives from service or labor. The
clause I now read is as plainly written in the
Constitution as any other of its provisions:

No person held to serv^ice or labor in one State, un-
der the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in
consequence of any law or regulation therein be dis-
charged from such service or labor, but shall be de-
livered up on claim of the party to whom such service
or labor may be due.

It is scarcely questioned that this provision
was intended by those who made it for the re=
claiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and
the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All
members of Congress swear their support to the

172 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

whole Constitution — to this provision as much
as to any other. To the proposition, then, that
slaves whose cases come within the terms of this
clause ''shall be delivered up," their oaths are
unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort
in good temper, could they not with nearly equal
unanimity frame and pass a law by means of
which to keep good that unanimous oath?

There is some difference of opinion whether
this clause should be enforced by national or by
State authority; but surely that difference is not
a very material one. If the slave is to be sur-
rendered, it can be of but little consequence to
him or to others by which authority it is done.
And should any one in any case be content that
his oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstan-
tial controversy as to how it shall be kept?

Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not
all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized
and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so
that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered
as a slave? And might it not be well at the
same time to provide by law for the enforcement
of that clause in the Constitution which guaran-
tees that "the citizen of each State shall be en-
titled to all privileges and immunities of citizens
in the several States"?

I take the official oath to-day with no mental
reservations, and with no purpose to construe the

i86i] First Inaugural Address 173

Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules.
And while I do not choose now to specify par-
ticular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced,
I do suggest that it will be much safer for all,
both in official and private stations, to conform
to and abide by all those acts which stand unre-
pealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to
find impunity in having them held to be uncon-
stitutional.

It is seventy-two years since the first inaugura-
tion of a President under our National Consti-
tution. During that period fifteen different and
greatly distinguished citizens have, in succes-
sion, administered the executive branch of the
government. They have conducted it through
many perils, and generally with great success.
Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter
upon the same task for the brief constitutional
term of four years under great and peculiar diffi-
culty. A disruption of the Federal Union, here-
tofore only menaced, is now formidably at-
tempted.

I hold that, in contemplation of universal law
and of the Constitution, the Union of these States
is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not ex-
pressed, in the fundamental law of all national
governments. It is safe to assert that no govern-
ment proper ever had a provision in its organic
law for its own termination.

174 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

Continue to execute all the express provisions
of our National Constitution, and the Union
will endure forever — it being impossible to de-
stroy it except by some action not provided for
in the instrument itself.

Again, if the United States be not a govern-
ment proper, but an association of States in the
nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract,
be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties
w^ho made it? One party to a contract may
violate it — break it, so to speak; but does it not
require all to lawfully rescind it?

Descending from these general principles, we
find the proposition that, in legal contemplation
the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history
of the Union itself. The Union is much older
than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact,
by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was
matured and continued by the Declaration of
Independence in 1776. It was further matured,
and the faith of all the then thirteen States ex-
pressly plighted and engaged that it should be
perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in
1778. And, finally, in 1787 one of the declared
objects for ordaining and establishing the Con-
stitution was "to form a more perfect Union."

But if the destruction of the Union by one or
by a part only of the States be lawfully possible,
the Union is less perfect than before the Con-

i86i] First Inaugural Address 175

stitution, having lost the vital element of per-
petuity.

It follows from these views that no State upon
its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the
Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that effect
are legally void ; and that acts of violence, within
any State or States, against the authority of the
United States, are insurrectionary or revolution-
ary, according to circumstances.

I therefore consider that, in view of the Con-
stitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken;
and to the extent of my ability I shall take care,
as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon
me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully exe-
cuted in all the States. Doing this I deem to
be only a simple duty on my part; and I shall
perform it so far as practicable, unless my right-
ful masters, the American people, shall withhold
the requisite means, or in some authoritative
manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not
be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared
purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally
defend and maintain itself.

In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed
or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be
forced upon the national authority. The power
confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and
possess the property and places belonging to the
government, and to collect the duties and im-

176 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

posts; but beyond what may be necessary for
these objects, there will be no invasion, no using
of force against or among the people anywhere.
Where hostility to the United States, in any in-
terior locality, shall be so great and universal as
to prevent competent resident citizens from
holding the Federal offices, there will be no at-
tempt to force obnoxious strangers among the
people for that object. While the strict legal
right may exist in the government to enforce the
exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so
would be so irritating, and so nearly impractic-
able withal, that I deem it better to forego for
the time the uses of such offices.

The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be
furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as
possible, the people everywhere shall have that
sense of perfect security which is most favorable
to calm thought and reflection. The course here
indicated will be followed unless current events
and experience shall show a modification or
change to be proper, and in every case and exi-
gency my best discretion will be exercised ac-
cording to circumstances actually existing, and
with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of
the national troubles and the restoration of fra-
ternal sympathies and affections.

That there are persons in one section or an-
other who seek to destroy the Union at all events,

i86i] First Inaugural Address 177

and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither
affirm nor deny; but if there be such, I need ad-
dress no word to them. To those, however, who
really love the Union may I not speak?

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the
destruction of our national fabric, with all its
benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not
be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it?
Will you hazard so desperate a step while there
is any possibility that any portion of the ills you
fly from have no real existence? Will you, while
the certain ills you fly to are greater than all
the real ones you fly from — will you risk the
commission of so fearful a mistake?

All profess to be content in the Union if all
constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it
true, then, that any right, plainly written in the
Constitution, has been denied? I think not.
Happily the human mind is so constituted that
no party can reach to the audacity of doing this.
Thinkj if you can, of a single instance in which
a plainly written provision of the Constitution
has ever been denied. If by the mere force of
numbers a majority should deprive a minority
of any clearly written constitutional right, it
might, in a moral point of view, justify revolu-
tion— certainly would if such a right were a vital
one. But such is not our case. All the vital
rights of minorities and of individuals are so

178 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

plainly assured to them by affirmations and
negations, guarantees and prohibitions, in the
Constitution, that controversies never arise con-
cerning them. But no organic law can ever be
framed with a provision specifically applicable
to every question which may occur in practical
administration. No foresight can anticipate, nor
any document of reasonable length contain, ex-
press provisions for all possible questions. Shall
fugitives from labor be surrendered by national
or by State authority? The Constitution does
not expressly say. May Congress prohibit
slavery in the Territories? The Constitution
does not expressly say. Must Congress protect
slavery in the Territories? The Constitution
does not expressly say.

From questions of this class spring all our con-
stitutional controversies, and we divide upon
them into majorities and minorities. If the mi-
nority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or
the government must cease. There is no other
alternative; for continuing the government is
acquiescence on one side or the other.

If a minority in such case will secede rather
than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in
turn will divide and ruin them; for a minority
of their own will secede from them whenever a
majority refuses to be controlled by such minor-
ity. For instance, why may not any portion of

i86i] First Inaugural Address 179

a new confederacy a year or two hence arbitra-
rily secede again, precisely as portions of the
present Union now claim to secede from it? All
who cherish disunion sentiments are now being
educated to the exact temper of doing this.

Is there such perfect identity of interests
among the States to compose a new Union, as to
produce harmony only, and prevent renewed
secession?

Plainly, the central idea of secession is the
essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint
by constitutional checks and limitations, and al-
ways changing easily with deliberate changes
of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only
true sovereign of a free people. Whoever re-
jects it does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to
despotism. Unanimity is impossible; the rule
of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is
wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the ma-
jority principle, anarchy or despotism in some
form is all that is left.

I do not forget the position, assumed by some,
that constitutional questions are to be decided
by the Supreme Court; nor do I deny that such
decisions must be binding, in any case, upon the
parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit,
while they are also entitled to very high respect
and consideration in all parallel cases by all
other departments of the government. And

i8o Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

while it is obviously possible that such decision
may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil
effect following it, being limited to that par-
ticular case, with the chance that it may be over-
ruled and never become a precedent for other
cases, can better be borne than could the evils
of a different practice.

At the same time, the candid citizen must
confess that if the ploicy of the government,
upon vital questions affecting the whole peo-
ple, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of
the Supreme Court, the instant they are made,
in ordinary litigation between parties in per-
sonal actions, the people will have ceased to
be their own rulers, having to that extent prac-
tically resigned their government into the hands
of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there in this
view any assault upon the court or the judges.
It is a duty from which they may not shrink
to decide cases properly brought before them,
and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn
their decisions to political purposes.

One section of our country believes slavery is
right, and ought to be extended, while the other
believes it is wrong, and ought not to be ex-
tended. This is the only substantial dispute.
The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution,
and the law for the suppression of the foreign
slave-trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps,

i86i] First Inaugural Address i8i

as any law can ever be in a community where
the moral sense of the people imperfectly sup-
ports the law itself. The great body of the people
abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases,
and a few break over in each. This, I think,
cannot be perfectly cured ; and it would be worse
in both cases after the separation of the sections
than before. The foreign slave-trade, now im-
perfectly suppressed, would be ultimately re-
vived, without restriction, in one section, while
fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered,
would not be surrendered at all by the other.

Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We
cannot remove our respective sections from each
other, nor build an impassable wall between
them. A husband and wife may be divorced,
and go out of the presence and beyond the reach
of each other; but the different parts of our
country cannot do this. They cannot but remain
face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or
hostile, must continue between them. Is it pos-
sible, then, to make that intercourse more ad-
vantageous or more satisfactory after separation
than before? Can aliens make treaties easier
than friends can make laws? Can treaties be
more faithfully enforced between aliens than
laws can among friends? Suppose you go to
war, you cannot fight always; and when, after
much loss on both sides, and no gain on either,

1 82 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

you cease fighting, the identical old questions as
to terms of intercourse are again upon you.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to
the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall
grow weary of the existing government, they can
exercise their constitutional right of amending
it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or
overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact
that many worthy and patriotic citizens are de-
sirous of having the National Constitution
amended. While I make no recommendation
of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful
authority of the people over the whole subject,
to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed
in the instrument itself; and I should, under
existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose
a fair opportunity being afforded the people to
act upon it. I will venture to add that to me
the convention mode seems preferable, in that
it allows amendments to originate with the
people themselves, instead of only permitting
them to take or reject propositions originated by
others not specially chosen for the purpose, and
which might not be precisely such as they would
wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a
proposed amendment to the Constitution — which
amendment, however, I have not seen — has passed
Congress, to the effect that the Federal Govern-
ment shall never interfere with the domestic in-

i86i] First Inaugural Address 183

stitutions of the States, including that of persons
held to service. To avoid misconstruction of
w^hat I have said, I depart from my purpose not
to speak of particular amendments so far as to
say that, holding such a provision to now be im-
plied constitutional law, I have no objection to
its being made express and irrevocable.

The chief magistrate derives all his authority
from the people, and they have conferred none
upon him to fix terms for the separation of the
States. The people themselves can do this also
if they choose; but the executive, as such, has
nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer
the present government, as it came to his hands,
and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his
successor.

Why should there not be a patient confidence
in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there
any better or equal hope in the world? In our
present differences is either party without faith
of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of
Nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be
on your side of the North, or on yours of the
South, that truth and that justice will surely
prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of
the American people.

By the frame of the government under which
we live, this same people have wisely given their
public servants but little power for mischief;

184 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 4

and have, with equal wisdom, provided for the
return of that little to their own hands at very
short intervals. While the people retain their
virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any
extreme of wickedness or folly, can very serious-
ly injure the government in the short space of
four years.

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and
well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable
can be lost by taking time. If there be an object
to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which
you would never take deliberately, that object
will be frustrated by taking time; but no good
object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are
now dissatisfied, still have the old Constitution
unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws
of your own framing under it; while the new
administration will have no immediate power, if
it would, to change either. If it were admitted
that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side
in the dispute, there still is no single good reason
for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism,
Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who
has never yet forsaken this favored land, are
still competent to adjust in the best way all our
present difficulty.

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-country-
men, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of
civil war. The government will not assail you.

i86i] Letter to Seward 185

You can have no conflict without being your-
selves the aggressors. You have no oath regis-
tered in heaven to destroy the government, while
I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve,
protect, and defend it."

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but
friends. We must not be enemies. Though
passion may have strained, it must not break our
bonds of affection. The mystic chords of
memory, stretching from every battle-field and
patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-
stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the
chorus of the Union when again touched, as
surely they will be, by the better angels of our
nature.

Letter to William H. Seward

Executive Mansion, March 4, 1861.
My dear Sir: Your note of the 2d instant,
asking to withdraw your acceptance of my in-
vitation to take charge of the State Department,
was duly received. It is the subject of the most
painful solicitude with me, and I feel con-
strained to beg that you will countermand the
withdrawal. The public interest, I think, de-
mands that you should ; and my personal feelings
are deeply enlisted in the same direction. Please
consider and answer by 9 A. M. to-morrow.
Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN.

1 86 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 8

Letter to Secretary Seward

Executive Chamber, March 7, 1861.
My dear Sir: Herewith is the diplomatic
address and my reply. To whom the reply
should be addressed — that is, by what title or
style — I do not quite understand, and therefore
I have left it blank.

Will you please bring with you to-day the
message from the War Department, with Gen-
eral Scott's note upon it, which we had here yes-
terday? I wish to examine the general's opinion,
which I have not yet done.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Reply to the Diplomatic Corps, March 7,
1861

Mr. Ftganiere and Gentlemen of the Diplo-
matic Body: Please accept my sincere thanks
for your kind congratulations. It affords me
pleasure to confirm the confidence you so gener-
ously express in the friendly disposition of the
United States, through me, toward the sover-
eigns and governments you respectively repre-
sent. With equal satisfaction I accept the assur-
ance you are pleased to give, that the same dis;
position is reciprocated by your sovereigns, your
governments, and yourselves.

i86i] Letter to Colfax 187

Allow me to express the hope that these
friendly relations may remain undisturbed, and
also my frequent wishes for the health and hap-
piness of yourselves personally.

Letter to Schuyler Colfax

Executive Mansion, March 8, 1861.
My dear Sir: Your letter of the 6th has just
been handed me by Mr. Baker, of Minnesota.
When I said to you the other day that I wished
to write you a letter, I had reference, of course,
to my not having ofifered you a cabinet appoint-
ment. I meant to say, and now do say, you were
most honorably and amply recommended, and a
tender of the appointment was not withheld, in
any part, because of anything happening in
1858.^ Indeed, I should have decided as I did
easier than I did, had that matter never existed.
I had partly made up my mind in favor of Mr.
Smith — not conclusively, of course — before your
name was mentioned in that connection. When
you were brought forward I said, "Colfax is a
young man, is already in position, is running a
brilliant career, and is sure of a bright future in
any event; with Smith, it is now or never." I
considered either abundantly competent, and de-

^The allusion here is to the fact that in the senatorial cam-
paign of 1858 in Illinois, between Lincoln and Douglas, Mr.
Colfax was understood to favor the reelection of Douglas. —
N. and H.

1 88 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 9

cided on the ground I have stated. I now have
to beg that you will not do me the injustice to
suppose for a moment that I remember anything
against you in malice.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Order to General Scott

Drafted by President Lincoln and Signed by the
Secretary of War.
War Department, March 9, 1861.
My dear Sir: I am directed by the Presi-
dent to say he desires you to exercise all possible
vigilance for the maintenance of all the places
within the military department of the United
States, and to promptly call upon all the depart-
ments of the government for the means necessary
to that end.

[Simon Cameron.]

Letter to General Scott

Executive Mansion, March 9, 1861.
My dear Sir: On the 5th instant I received
from the Hon. Joseph Holt, the then faithful
and vigilant Secretary of War, a letter of that
date, inclosing a letter and accompanying docu-
ments received by him on the 4th instant from
Major Robert Anderson, commanding Fort
Sumter, South Carolina ; and copies of all which

i86i] Letter to Scott 189

I now transmit. Immediately on receipt of
them by me, I transmitted the whole to you for
your consideration; and the same day you re-
turned the package to me with your opinion in-
dorsed upon it, a copy of which opinion I now
also transmit to you. Learning from you
verbally that since then you have given the sub-
ject a more full and thorough consideration, you
will much oblige me by giving answers, in writ-
ing, to the following interrogatories:

( 1 ) To what point of time can Major Ander-
son maintain his position at Fort Sumter, with-
out fresh supplies or reinforcement?

(2) Can you, with all the means now in your
control, supply or reinforce Fort Sumter within
that time?

(3) If not, what amount of means, and of
what description, in addition to that already at
your control, would enable you to supply and re-
inforce that fortress within the time?

Please answer these, adding such statements,
information, and counsel as your great skill and
experience may suggest.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Seward

Executive Mansion, March ii, 1861.
My dear Sir: What think you of sending
ministers at once as follows: Dayton to Eng-

190 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 14

land; Fremont to France; Clay to Spain; Cor-
win to Mexico?

We need to have these points guarded as
strongly and quickly as possible. This is sug-
gestion merely, and not dictation.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

*Letters to the Postmaster-General

Executive Mansion, March 12, 1861.
My dear Sir: I understand that the outgo-
ing and incoming Representatives for the Cleve-
land District, unite in recommending Edwin
Cowries for P. M. in that City; that Senator
Wade has considered the case and declines to
interfere; and that no other M. C. interferes.
Under these circumstances, if correct, I think
Mr. Cowles better be appointed.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Executive Mansion, March 13, 1861.

Hon. p. M. G.

Dear Sir: The bearer of this, Mr. C. T.
Hempstow, is a Virginian who wishes to get, for
his son, a small place in your Department. I
think Virginia should be heard, in such cases.

Lincoln.

i86i] Letter to Seward

Letter to

191

Executive Mansion, March 13, 1861.
My dear Sir: You will start for Kansas be-
fore I see you again ; and when I saw you a mo-
ment this morning I forgot to ask you about
some of the Kansas appointments, which I in-
tended to do. If you care much about them, you
can write, as I think I shall not make the ap-
pointments just yet.

Yours in haste,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Seward

Executive Mansion, March 13, 1861.
Dear Sir: General Cameron desires that
Jacob S. Haldeman may be appointed Minister
Resident at Sweden and Norway; and I am will-
ing to oblige him, if you see no objection.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Seward

Executive Mansion, March 14, 1861.
My dear Sir: Allow me to introduce Mr. F.
Hassaurek, one of our best German Republican
workers in America, residing at Cincinnati, and
of whose character you cannot be ignorant.
Please give him an interview.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

192 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 15

Note asking Cabinet Opinions on Fort
Sumter

Executive Mansion, March 15, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR : Assuming it to be pos-
sible to now provision Fort Sumter,
under all the circumstances is it wise
to attempt it? Please give me your opinion in
writing on this question.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.
[The above note written to all the members of
the Cabinet.]

Opinion on Fort Sumter from the Secretary of State.

Department of State,

Washington, 15th March, 1861.

The President submits to me the following ques-
tion — namely : " Assuming it to be possible to now
provision Fort Sumter, under all the circumstances
is It wise to attempt it? "

If it were possible to peacefully provision Fort
Sumter, of course I should answer that it would be
both unwise and inhuman not to attempt It. But the
facts of the case are known to be that the attempt
must be made with the employment of military and
marine force, which would provoke combat, and

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 193

probably initiate a civil war, which the government of
the United States would be committed to maintain
through all changes to some definite conclusion.

History must record that a sectional party practi-
cally constituting a majority of the people of the fif-
teen slave States, excited to a high state of jealous ap-
prehension for the safety of life and property, by
impassioned, though groundless, appeals went into the
late election with a predetermined purpose, if unsuc-
cessful at the polls, to raise the standard of secession
immediately afterward, and to separate the slave
States, or so many of them as could be detached from
the Union, and to organize them in a new, distinct,
and independent Confederacy. That party was un-
successful at the polls. In the frenzy which followed
the announcement of their defeat, they put the
machinery of the State legislatures and conventions
into motion, and within the period of three months
they have succeeded in obtaining ordinances of seces-
sion by which seven of the slave States have seceded
and organized a new Confederacy under the name of
the Confederate States of America. These States,
finding a large number of the mints, custom-houses,
forts, and arsenals of the United States situate within
their limits, unoccupied, undefended, and virtually
abandoned by the late administration, have seized and
appropriated them to their own use, and under the
same circumstances have seized and appropriated to
their own use large amounts of money and other pub-
lic property of the United States, found within their
limits. The people of the other slave States, divided

194 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 15

and balancing between sympathy with the seceding
slave States and loyalty to the Union, have been in-
tensely excited, but, at the present moment, indicate a
disposition to adhere to the Union, if nothing extra-
ordinary shall occur to renew excitement and produce
popular exasperation. This is the stage in this pre-
meditated revolution at which we now stand.

The opening of this painful controversy at once
raised the question whether it would be for the in-
terest of the country to admit the projected dismem-
berment, with its consequent evils, or whether patriot-
ism and humanity require that it shall be prevented.
As a citizen, my own decision on this subject was
promptly made — namely, that the Union is inesti-
mable and even indispensable to the welfare and hap-
piness of the whole country, and to the best interests
of mankind. As a statesman in the pubhc service, I
have not hesitated to assume that the Federal Govern-
ment is committed to maintain, preserve, and defend
the Union — peaceably if it can, forcibly if it must
— to every extremity. Next to disunion itself, I re-
gard civil war as the most disastrous and deplorable
of national calamities, and as the most uncertain and
fearful of all remedies for political disorders. I
have, therefore, made it the study and labor of the
hour, how to save the Union from dismemberment by
peaceful policy and without civil war.

Influenced by these sentiments, I have felt that it is
exceedingly fortunate that, to a great extent, the Fed-
eral Government occupies, thus far, not an aggressive
attitude, but practically a defensive one, while the

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 195

necessity for action, if civil war is to be initiated, falls
on those who seek to dismember and subvert this
Union.

It has seemed to me equally fortunate that the dis-
unionists are absolutely without any justification for
their rash and desperate designs. The administra-
tion of the government had been for a long time
virtually in their own hands, and controlled and di-
rected by themselves, when they began the work of
revolution. They had, therefore, no other excuse
than apprehensions of oppression from the new and
adverse administration which was about to come into
power.

It seems to me, further, to be a matter of good for-
tune that the new and adverse administration must
come in with both Houses of Congress containing ma-
jorities opposite to its policy, so that, even if it would,
it could commit no wrong or injustice against the
States which were being madly goaded into revolu-
tion. • Under these circumstances, disunion could have
no better basis to stand upon than a blind, unreasoning
popular excitement, arising out of a simple and harm-
less disappointment in a Presidential election. That
excitement, if it should find no new ailment, must
soon subside and leave disunion without any real sup-
port. On the other hand, I have believed firmly that
everywhere, even in South Carolina, devotion to the
Union is a profound and permanent national senti-
ment, which, although it may be suppressed and
silenced by terror for a time, could, if encouraged, be
ultimately relied upon to rally the people of the seced-

196 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 13

ing States to reverse, upon due deliberation, all the
popular acts of legislatures and conventions by which
they were hastily and violently committed to disunion.

The policy of the time, therefore, has seemed to me
to consist in conciliation, which should deny to dis-
unionists any new provocation or apparent offense,
while it would enable the unionists in the slave States
to maintain, with truth and with effect, that the claims
and apprehensions put forth by the disunionists are
groundless and false.

I have not been ignorant of the objection that the
administration was elected through the activity of the
Republican party, that it must continue to deserve and
retain the confidence of that party, while conciliation
toward the slave States tends to demoralize the Re-
publican party itself, on which party the main re-
sponsibility of maintaining the Union must rest.

But it has seemed to me a sufficient answer, first,
that the administration could not demoralize the Re-
publican party without making some sacrifice of its
essential principles when no such sacrifice is necessary
or is anywhere authoritatively proposed ; and, second-
ly, if it be indeed true that pacification is necessary to
prevent dismemberment of the Union and civil war,
or either of them, no patriot and lover of humanity
could hesitate to surrender party for the higher in-
terests of country and humanity.

Partly by design, partly by chance, this policy has
been hitherto pursued by the last administration of
the Federal Government, and by the Republican party
in its corporate action. It is by this policy thus pur-

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 197

sued, I think, that the progress of dismemberment
has been arrested after the seven Gulf States had
seceded, and the border States yet remain, although
they do so uneasily, in the Union.

It is to a perseverance in this policy for a short time
longer that I look as the only peaceful means of as-
suring the continuance of Virginia, Maryland, North
Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkan-
sas, or most of those States, in the Union. It is
through their good and patriotic offices that I look to
see the Union sentiment rev^ived and brought once
more into activity in the seceding States, and through
this agency those States themselves returning into the
Union.

I am not unaware that I am conceding more than
can reasonably be demanded by the people of the
border States. They could, speaking justly, demand
nothing. They are bound by the Federal obligation
to adhere to the Union without concession or concilia-
tion, just as much as the people of the free States are.
But in administration we must deal with men, facts,
and circumstances, not as they ought to be, but as they
are.

The fact, then, is that while the people of the
border States desire to be loyal, they are at the same
time sadly, though temporarily, demoralized by a
sympathy for the slave States which makes them for-
get their loyalty whenever there are any grounds for
apprehending that the Federal Government will re-
sort to military coercion against the seceding States,
even though such coercion should be necessary to

198 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 15

maintain the authority, or even the integrity, of the
Union. This sympathy is unreasonable, unwise, and
dangerous, and therefore cannot, if left undisturbed,
be permanent. It can be banished, however, only in
one way, and that is by giving time for it to wear out
and for reason to resume its sway. Time will do this,
if it be not hindered by new alarms and provocations.

South Carolina opened the revolution. Appre-
hending chastisement by the military arm of the
United States, she seized all the forts of the United
States in the harbor of Charleston, except Fort Sumter,
which, garrisoned by less than a hundred men, stands
practically in a state of siege, but at the same time
defying South Carolina and, as the seceding States
imagine, menacing her with conquest. Every one
knows, first, that even if Sumter were adequately re-
inforced, it would still be practically useless tO' the
government, because the administration in no case
could attempt to subjugate Charleston or the State
of South Carolina.

It is held now only because it is the property of the
United States, and is a monument of their authority
and sovereignty. I would so continue to hold it as
long as it can be done without involving some danger
or evil greater than the advantage of continued pos-
session. The highest military authority tells us that
without supplies the garrison must yield in a few days
to starvation, that its numbers are so small that it
must yield in a few days to attack by the assailants
lying around it, and that the case In this respect would
remain the same even If it were supplied but not rein-

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 199

forced. All the military and naval authorities tell
us that any attempt at supplies would be unavailing
without the employment of armed military and naval
force. If we employ armed force for the purpose of
supplying the fort, we give all the provocation that
could be offered by combining reinforcement with sup-
ply. The question submitted to me, then, practically
is : Supposing it to be possible to reinforce and sup-
ply Fort Sumter, is it wise now to attempt it instead
of withdrawing the garrison? The most that could
be done by any means now in our hands, would be to
throw two hundred and fifty to four hundred men into
the garrison, with provisions for supplying it for six
months. In this active and enlightened country, in
this season of excitement, with a daily press, daily
mails, and an incessantly operating telegraph, the de-
sign to reinforce and supply the garrison must become
known to the opposite party at Charleston as soon, at
least, as preparation for it should begin. The gar-
rison would then almost certainly fall by assault be-
fore the expedition could reach the harbor of Charles-
ton. But supposing the secret kept, the expedition
must engage in conflict on entering the harbor of
Charleston. Suppose it be overpowered and de-
stroyed, Is that new outrage to be avenged, or are we
then to return to our attitude of Immobility? Shall
we be allowed to do so? Moreover, in that event,
what becomes of the garrison?

Suppose the expedition successful, we have then a
garrison in Fort Sumter that can defy assault for six
months. What is it to do then ? Is it to make war

200 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

by opening its batteries and attempting to demolish
the defenses of the CaroHnians? Can it demolish
them if it tries? If it cannot, what is the advantage
we shall have gained? If it can, how will it serve to
check or prevent disunion? In either case it seems to
me that we will have inaugurated a civil war by our
own act, without an adequate object, after which re-
union will be hopeless, at least under this administra-
tion, or in any other way than by a popular disavowal
both of the war and of the administration which un-
necessarily commenced it. Fraternity is the element
of union; war, the very element of disunion. Fra-
ternity, if practised by this administration, will rescue
the Union from all its dangers. If this administra-
tion, on the other hand, takes up the sword, then an
opposite party will offer the olive-branch, and will, as
it ought, profit by the restoration of peace and union.
I may be asked whether I would in no case, and
at no time, advise force — whether I propose to give
up everything? I reply, no. I would not initiate
war to regain a useless and unnecessary position on the
soil of the seceding States. I would not provoke war
in any way now. I would resort to force to protect
the collection of the revenue, because this is a necessary
as well as a legitimate minor object. Even then it
should be only a naval force that I would employ for
that necessary purpose, while I would defer military
action on land until a case should arise when we would
hold the defense. In that case we should have the
spirit of the country and the approval of mankind on
our side. In the other, we should imperil peace and

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 2or

union, because we had not the courage to practise pru-
dence and moderation at the cost of temporary misap-
prehension. If this counsel seems to be impassive
and even unpatriotic, I console myself by the reflection
that it Is such as Chatham gave to his country under
circumstances not widely different.

William H. Seward.

Opinion on Fort Sumter from the Secretary of the
Treasury.

Treasury Department, March i6, 1861.

Sir: The following question was submitted to my
consideration by your note of yesterday : " Assum-
ing it to be possible to now provision Fort Sumter,
under all the circumstances is it wise to attempt it? "

I have given to this question all the reflection which
the engrossing duties of this department have allowed.
A correct solution must depend, In my judgment, on
the degree of possibility, on the combination of rein-
forcement with provisioning, and on the probable ef-
fects of the measure upon the relations of the disaf-
fected States to the National Government.

I shall assume, what the statements of the distin-
guished officers consulted seem to warrant, that the
possibility of success amounts to a reasonable degree
of probability, and also that the attempt to provision
is to include an attempt to reinforce, for It seems to be
generally agreed that provisioning without reinforce-
ments, notwithstanding hostile resistance, will accom-
plish no substantially beneficial purpose.

The probable political effects of the measure allow

202 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

room for much fair difference of opinion; and I have
not reached my own conclusion without serious diffi-
culty.

If the attempt will so inflame civil war as to involve
an immediate necessity for the enlistment of armies
and the expenditure of millions, I cannot advise it in
the existing circumstances of the country and in the
present condition of the national finances.

But it seems to me highly Improbable that the at-
tempt, especially if accompanied or immediately fol-
lowed by a proclamation setting forth a liberal and
generous yet firm policy toward the disaffected States,
in harmony with the principles of the inaugural ad-
dress, will produce such consequences ; while it cannot
be doubted that in maintaining a port belonging to the
United States and in supporting the officers and men
engaged In the regular course of service in its defense,
the Federal Government exercises a clear right and,
under all ordinary circumstances, performs a plain
duty.

I return, therefore, an affirmative answer to the
question submitted to me,

And have the honor to be,

With the highest respect.

Your obedient servant,

S. P. Chase.
Opinion on Fort Sumter from the Secretary of War.
War Department, March i6, 1861.

Sir: In reply to the letter of inquiry, addressed to
me by the President, whether, " assuming it to be
possible now to provision Fort Sumter, under all the

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 203

circumstances is it wise to attempt it? " I beg leave
to say that it has received the careful consideration,
in the limited time I could bestow upon it, which its
v^ery grave importance demands, and that my mind
has been most reluctantly forced to the conclusion that
It would be unwise now to make such an attempt.

In coming to this conclusion, I am free to say I am
greatly influenced by the opinions of the army officers
who have expressed themselves on the subject, and
who seem to concur that it Is, perhaps, now impossible
to succor that fort substantially, if at all, without
capturing, by means of a large expedition of ships of
war and troops, all the opposing batteries of South
Carolina. All the officers within Fort Sumter, to-
gether with Generals Scott and Totten, express this
opinion, and It would seem to me that the President
would not be justified to disregard such high authority
without overruling considerations of public policy.

Major Anderson, in his report of the 28th ultimo,
says : " I confess that I would not be willing to risk
my reputation on an attempt to throw reinforcements
Into this harbor within the time for our rehef, ren-
dered necessary by the limited supply of our pro-
visions, and with a view of holding possession of the
same, with a force of less than twenty thousand good
and well-disciplined men."

In this opinion Major Anderson Is substantially sus-
tained by the reports of all the other officers within
the fort, one of whom, Captain Seymour, speaks thus
emphatically on the subject: " It Is not more than
possible to supply this fort by ruse with a few men

204 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

or a small amount of provisions, such is the unceasing
vigilance employed to prevent it. To do so openly
by vessels alone, unless they are shot-proof, is virtual-
ly impossible, so numerous and powerful are the op-
posing batteries. No vessel can lay near the fort
without being exposed to continual fire, and the har-
bor could, and probably would, whenever necessary,
be effectually closed, as one channel has already been.
A projected attack in large force would draw to this
harbor all the available resources in men and material
of the contiguous States. Batteries of guns of heavy
caliber would be multiplied rapidly and indefinitely;
at least twenty thousand men, good marksmen and
trained for months past with a view to this very con-
tingency, would be concentrated here before the at-
tacking force could leave Northern ports. The har-
bor would be closed; a landing must be effected at
some distance from our guns, which could give no aid.
Charleston harbor would be a Sebastopol in such a
conflict, and unlimited means would probably be re-
quired to insure success, before which time the gar-
rison at Fort Sumter would be starved out."

General Scott, in his reply to the question addressed
to him by the President on the 12th instant, what
amount of means, and of what description, in ad-
dition to those already at command, would be re-
quired to supply and reinforce the fort, says, " I
should need a fleet of war vessels and transports,
which, in the scattered disposition of the navy (as un-
derstood), could not be collected In less than four
months; five thousand additional regular troops, and

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 205

twenty thousand volunteers — that Is, a force suf-
ficient to take all the batteries, both In the harbor (in-
cluding Fort Moultrie) as well as in the approach or
outer bay. To raise, organize, and discipline such an
army (not to spealc of necessary legislation by Con-
gress, not now in session) would require from six to
eight months. As a practical military question, the
time for succoring Fort Sumter with any means at
hand had passed away nearly a month ago. Since
then, a surrender under assault or from starvation has
been merely a question of time."

It is true there are those whose opinions are entitled
to respectful consideration, who entertain the belief
that Fort Sumter could yet be succored to a limited
extent without the employment of the large army and
naval forces believed to be necessary by the army
officers whose opinions I have already quoted. Cap-
tain Ward of the navy, an officer of acknowledged
merit, a month ago believed it to be practicable to sup-
ply the fort with men and provisions to a limited ex-
tent, without the employment of any ver)'- large mili-
tary or naval force. He then proposed to employ four
or more small steamers belonging to the Coast Sur-
vey to accomplish the purpose, and we have the opin-
ion of General Scott that he has no doubt that Captain
Ward, at that time, would have succeeded with his
proposed expedition, but was not allowed by the late
President to attempt the execution of his plan. Now
It Is pronounced, from the change of circumstances,
Impracticable by Major Anderson and all the other
officers of the fort, as well as by Generals Scott and

2o6 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

Totten; and In this opinion Captain Ward, after full
consultation with the latter named officers and the
superintendent of the Coast Survey, I understand now
reluctantly concurs.

Mr. Fox, another gentleman of experience as a sea-
man, who, having formerly been engaged on the
Coast Survey, is familiar with the waters of Charles-
ton Harbor, has proposed to make the attempt to sup-
ply the fort by the aid of cutters of light draught and
large dimensions, and his proposal has, in a measure,
been approved by Commodore Stringham ; but he does
not suppose, or propose, or profess to believe that
provisions for more than one or two months could be
furnished at a time.

There is no doubt whatever in my mind that when
Major Anderson first took possession of Fort Sumter
he could have been easily supplied with men and pro-
visions, and that when Captain Ward, with the con-
currence of General Scott, a month ago, proposed his
expedition, he would have succeeded had he been
allowed to attempt it, as I think he should have been.
A different state of things, however, now exists. Fort
Moultrie is now re-armed and strengthened in every
way; many new hand batteries have been con-
structed, the principal channel has been obstructed —
in short, the difficulty of reinforcing the fort has been
increased ten, if not twenty, fold. Whatever might
have been done as late as a month ago, it is too sadly
evident that it cannot now be done without the sacri-
fice of life and treasure not at all commensurate with
the object to be attained; and as the abandonment of

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 207

the fort in a few weeks, sooner or later, appears to be
an inevitable necessity, it seems to me that the sooner
it be done the better.

The proposition presented by Mr. Fox, so sincerely
entertained and ably advocated, would be entitled to
my favorable consideration if, with all the lights be-
fore me, and in the face of so many distinguished mili-
tary authorities on the other side, I did not believe
the attempt to carry it into effect would initiate a
bloody and protracted conflict. Should he succeed in
relieving Fort Sumter, which is doubted by many of
our most experienced soldiers and seamen, would that
enable us to maintain our authority against the troops
and fortifications of South Carolina? Sumter could
not now contend against these formidable adversaries
if filled with provisions and men. That fortress was
intended, as her position on the map will show, rather
to repel an invading foe. It is equally clear, from
repeated investigations and trials, that the range of
her guns is too limited to reach the city of Charleston,
if that were desirable. No practical benefit will re-
sult to the country or the government by accepting the
proposal alluded to; and I am, therefore, of the
opinion that the cause of humanity, and the highest
obligations to the public interest, would be best pro-
moted by adopting the counsels of those brave and
experienced men whose suggestions I have laid before
you.

I have, sir, the honor to be, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,

Simon Cameron.

2o8 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 15

Opinion on Fort Sumter from the Secretary of the

Navy.
Navy Department, March 15, 1861.

Sir: In answer to your inquiry of thjs date, I take
it for granted that Fort Sumter cannot be provisioned
except by force, and assuming that it is possible to be
done by force, is it wise to make the attempt?

The question has two aspects — one mihtary, the
other pohtical. The mihtary gentlemen who have
been consulted, as well as the officers at the fort, rep-
resent that it would be unwise to attempt to succor the
garrison under existing circumstances, and I am not
disposed to controvert their opinions.

But a plan has been submitted by a gentleman of
undoubted courage and intelligence, — not of the army
or navy, — to run in supplies by steam-tugs, to be
chartered in New York. It is admitted to be a haz-
ardous scheme, which, if successful, is likely to be at-
tended with some loss of life and the total destruction
of the boats. The force which would constitute the
expedition, if undertaken, as well as the officer in com-
mand, would not, if I rightly understand the propo-
sition, be of the army or navy. It is proposed to aid
and carry out the enterprise by an armed ship at the
mouth of the harbor and beyond the range of the
shore batteries, which is to drive in the armed boats of
the enemy beyond Fort Sumter. But suppose these
armed boats of the enemy refuse to go into the inner
harbor, as I think they will refuse, and shall station
themselves between Sumter and the ship for the ex-

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 209

press purpose of Intercepting your boats, how can you
prevent them from taking that station and capturing
the tugs? There can be but one way, and that is by
opening a fire upon them from Sumter, or the ship, or
perhaps both. If this Is done, will it not be claimed
that aggressive war has been commenced by us upon
the State and its citizens in their own harbor? It may
be possible to provision Fort Sumter by the volunteer
expedition, aided by the guns of Sumter and the ship
— the military gentlemen admit its possibility, but
they question the wisdom of the enterprise in Its mili-
tary aspect, and I would not impeach their conclusion.

In a political view I entertain doubts of the wisdom
of the measure, when the condition of the public mind
in different sections of the country, and the peculiar
exigency of affairs, are considered. Notwithstanding
the hostile attitude of South Carolina, and her long
and expensive preparations, there is a prevailing belief
that there will be no actual collision. An Impression
has gone abroad that Sumter Is to be evacuated, and
the shock caused by that announcement has done Its
work. The public mind Is becoming tranqullized un-
der It, and will become fully reconciled to It when the
causes which have led to that necessity shall have been
made public and are rightly understood. They are
attributable to no act of those who now administer the
government.

By sending or attempting to send provisions Into
Sumter, will not war be precipitated? It may be Im-
possible to escape It under any course of policy that
may be pursued, but I am not prepared to advise a

iio Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

course that would provoke hostilities. It does not ap-
pear to me that the dignity, strength, or character of
the government will be promoted by an attempt to
provision Sumter In the manner proposed, even should
it succeed, while a failure would be attended with un-
told disaster.

I do not, therefore, under all the circumstances,
think it wise to attempt to provision Fort Sumter. I
am, very respectfully,

Gideon Welles.

Opinion on Fort Sumter from the Secretary of the
Interior.

Department of the Interior, March i6, 1861.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your note of yesterday, requesting my opinion in
writing upon the question whether, " assuming it to
be possible to now provision Fort Sumter, under all
the circumstances is it \^-ise to attempt it? "

After a careful consideration of the opinions of
Generals Scott and Totten, and also those of Com-
modore Stringham and Mr, Fox, as presented to the
President and his cabinet on yesterday, I have arrived
at the conclusion that the probabilities are in favor of
the success of the proposed enterprise so far as to
secure the landing of the vessels at the fort, but there
would be great danger of their destruction and the loss
of many lives before their cargoes could be secured
within the fort.

It would be Impossible, In my judgment, to fit out
and conduct the expedition with such secrecy as to

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 211

keep those who have control of the harbor of Charles-
ton in Ignorance of their object, and of the mode and
time of their approach. I do not therefore attach
any importance to the proposition to approach the fort
under the cover of night, but I should expect the ex-
pedition to meet with all the resistance which the
authorities of South Carolina may be able to com-
mand.

The landing of supplies at Fort Sumter, if success-
fully accomplished, would of itself be of no practical
value, as it is quite clear that Major Anderson, with
his present inadequate force, could not long maintain
the fort against the means of attack now concentrated
there.

As the attempt to supply the fort with provisions
v.'ithout the consent of the authorities of South Caro-
lina would doubtless Induce an attack by them, the
effect of such an attempt, whether successful or not,
would be the early loss of the fort and the destruction
or capture of Major Anderson's command. It would
therefore, in my judgment, be unwise to attempt to
supply the fort with provisions, unless they w^ere sent
with such a force as would place beyond all doubt or
contingency the success of the enterprise, and also with
such reinforcements of men as would insure a success-
ful defense of the fort against any attack which could
be made upon it.

The occupation of Fort Sumter is not essential to
the performance of any of the duties imposed upon
the government. It cannot be used as a means of en-
forcing the laws, or of compeUing the people of South

212 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

Carolina to perform the duties they owe to the Fed-
eral Government. Viewing the question only as a
military one, I cannot doubt that it would be expe-
dient to abandon a position which can only be held
at a great expense of life and money, and which, when
held, cannot be used as a means of aiding the govern-
ment in the performance of its duties.

But the most important question connected with this
subject is one of a political character. The State of
South Carolina is in open rebellion against the govern-
ment. Her authorities have seized the public proper-
ty, have wholly disregarded the laws of the United
States, and have openly defied the government.

If the evacuation of Fort Sumter could be justly
regarded as a measure which would even by implica-
tion sanction the lawless acts of the authorities of that
State, or indicate an intention on the part of the gov-
ernment to surrender its constitutional authority over
them, or if it could be regarded as an acknowledg-
ment by the government of its inability to enforce the
laws, I should without hesitation advise that it should
be held without regard to the sacrifices which its reten-
tion might impose. I do not believe, however, that
the abandonment of the fort would imply such an
acknowledgment on the part of the government.
There are other means by which the power and the
honor of the government may be vindicated, and
which would, in my judgment, be much more effective
to compel the people of South Carolina to render
obedience to the laws, and which would at the same

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 213

time avoid the sacrifice of life which must result from
a conflict under the walls of the fort.

The commencement of a civil war would be a
calamity greatly to be deplored, and should be
avoided if the just authority of the government may
be maintained without it. If such a conflict should
become inevitable, it is much better that it should com-
mence by the resistance of the authorities or the people
of South Carolina to the legal action of the govern-
ment in enforcing the laws of the United States.

The public sentiment of the North would then be
united in the support of the government, and the
whole power of the country would be brought to its
aid.

If a conflict should be provoked by the attempt to
reinforce Fort Sumter, a divided sentiment in the
North would paralyze the arm of the government,
while treason in the Southern States would be openly
encouraged in the North. It is well known that this
question has already been much discussed throughout
the country, and that even among the friends of the
administration, many of those who demand that the
laws shall be enforced urge the propriety of the with-
drawal of our troops from Fort Sumter, believing that
the retention of that fort is not essential to the honor
of the government, or its power to enforce the laws.

While the abandonment of the fort would doubt-
less to some extent create surprise and complaint, I
believe that public sentiment would fully justify the
action of the government when the reasons which
prompt It shall be explained and understood.

214 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 15

I therefore respectfully answer the Inquiry of the
President by saying that, in my opinion, it would not
be wise under all the circumstances to attempt to pro-
vision Fort Sumter. I am, with respect,
Your obedient servant,

Caleb B. Smith.

Opinion on Fort Sumter from the Postmaster-
General.
Post-Office Department,

Washington, March 15, 1861.

Sir: In reply to your interrogatory, whether in my
opinion it is wise to provision Fort Sumter under pres-
ent circumstances, I submit the following considera-
tions in favor of provisioning that fort.

The ambitious leaders of the late Democratic party
have availed themselves of the disappointment attend-
ant upon defeat in the late presidential election to
found a military government in the seceding States.
To the connivance of the late administration it is due
alone that this rebellion has been enabled to attain its
present proportions. It has grown by this complicity
into the form of an organized government in seven
States, and up to this moment nothing has been done
to check its progress or prevent its being regarded
either at home or abroad as a successful revolution.
Every hour of acquiescence in this condition of things,
and especially every new conquest made by the rebels,
strengthens their hands at home and their claims to
recognition as an independent people abroad. It has
been from the beginning, and still is, treated practical-

[86i

] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 215

ly as a lawful proceeding, and the honest and Unlon-
lovlng people in those States must by a continuance of
this policy become reconciled to the new government,
and, though founded in wrong, come to regard it as a
rightful government.

I, in common with all my associates in your council,
agree that we must look to the people in these States
for the overthrow of this rebellion, and that it is
proper to exercise the powers of the Federal Govern-
ment only so far as to maintain its authority to collect
the revenue and maintain possession of the public
property in the States, and that this should be done
with as little bloodshed as possible. How is this to
be carried into effect? That it is by measures that
will inspire respect for the power of the government,
and the firmness of those who administer it, does not
admit of debate.

It is obvious that rebellion was checked in 1833 ^Y
the promptitude of the President in taking measures
which made it manifest that it could not be attempted
with impunity, and that it has grown to its present
formidable proportions only because similar measures
were not taken.

The action of the President in 1833 inspired re-
spect, whilst in i860 the rebels were encouraged by
the contempt they felt for the incumbent of the presi-
dency.

But it was not alone upon Mr. Buchanan's weak-
ness the rebels relied for success. They for the most
part believe that the Northern men are deficient in the
courage necessary to maintain the government. It is

2i6 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

this prevalent error in tlie South which induces so
large a portion of the people there to suspect the good
faith of the people of the North, and enables the
demagogues so successfully to inculcate the notion
that the object of the Nothern people is to abolish
slavery, and make the negroes the equals of the whites.
Doubting the manhood of Northern men, they dis-
credit their disclaimers of this purpose to humiliate
and injure them.

Nothing would so surely gain credit for such dis-
claimers as the manifestation of resolution on the
part of the President to maintain the lawful author-
ity of the nation. No men or people have so many
difficulties as those whose firmness is doubted.

The evacuation of Fort Sumter, when it is known
that it can be provisioned and manned, will convince
the rebels that the administration lacks firmness, and
will, therefore, tend more than any event that has
happened to embolden them; and so far from tend-
ing to prevent collision, will insure it unless all the
other forts are evacuated, and all attempts are given
up to maintain the authority of the United States.

Mr. Buchanan's policy has, I think, rendered col-
lision almost inevitable, and a continuance of that
policy will not only bring it about, but will go far
to produce a permanent division of the Union.

This is manifestly the pubhc judgment, which is
much more to be relied on than that of any indi-
vidual. I believe Fort Sumter may be provisioned
and relieved by Captain Fox with Httle risk; and
General Scott's opinion, that with its war comple-

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 217

ment there is no force In South Carolina which can
take it, renders it almost certain that it will not then
be attempted. This would completely demoralize the
rebellion. The impotent rage of the rebels, and the
outburst of patriotic feeling which would follow this
achievement, would initiate a reactionary movement
throughout the South which would speedily over-
whelm the traitors. No expense or care should,
therefore, be spared to achieve this success.

The appreciation of our stocks will pay for the
most lavish outlay to make it one.

Nor will the result be materially different to the
nation if the attempt fails, and its gallant leader and
followers are lost. It will in any event vindicate the
hardy courage of the North, and the determination
of the people and their President to maintain the
authority of the .government; and this is all that is
wanting, in my judgment, to restore it.

You should give no thought for the commander
and his comrades in this enterprise. They willingly
take the hazard for the sake of the country and the
honor which, successful or not, they will receive from
you and the lovers of free government in all lands.
I am sir, very respectfully.

Your obedient servant,

M. Blair.

Opinion on Fort Sumter from the Attorney-General.

The President of the United States has requested

my opinion, in writing, upon the following question :

" Assuming it to be possible to now provision Fort

2i8 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

Sumter, under all the circumstances is it wise to at-
tempt it?"

This is not a question of lawful right or physical
power, but of prudence and patriotism only. The
right is, in my mind, unquestionable, and I have no
doubt at all that the government has the power and
the means not only to provision the fort, but also,
if the exigency required, to man it with its war com-
plement of 650 men, so as to make it impregnable
to any local force that could be brought against it.
Assuming all this, we come back to the question,
" Under all the circumstances, is it wise " now to
provision the fort?

The wisdom of the act must be tested by the value
of the object to be gained, and by the hazards to be
encountered in the enterprise. The object to be
gained by the supply of provisions is not to strengthen
the fortress so as to command the harbor and enforce
the laws, but only to prolong the labors and priva-
tions of the brave little garrison that has so long held
it with patient courage.

The possession of the fort, as we now hold it, does
not enable us to collect the revenue or enforce the
laws of commercial navigation. It may indeed in-
volve a point of honor or a point of pride, but I do
not see any great national interest involved in the
bare fact of holding the fort as we now hold it — and
to hold it at all we must supply it with provisions —
and it seems to me that we may, in humanity and
patriotism, safely waive the point of pride in the
consciousness that we have the power, and lack notb

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 219

ing but the will, to hold Fort Sumter in such con-
dition as to command the harbor of Charleston, cut
off all its commerce, and even lay the city in ashes.

The hazards to be met are many and obvious. If
the attempt be made in rapid boats, light enough to
pass the bar in safety, still they must pass under the
fire of Fort Moultrie and the batteries on Morris
Island. They might possibly escape that danger, but
they cannot hope to escape the armed guard-boats
which ply all night from the port to the outer edge
of the bar. These armed guard-boats would be sure
to take or destroy our unarmed tugs, unless repelled
by force, either from our ships outside the bar or
from Fort Sumter within — and that is war. True,
war already exists by the act of South Carolina; but
this government has thus far magnanimously for-
borne to retort the outrage. And I am willing to for-
bear yet longer, in the hope of a peaceful solution of
our present difficulties. I am most unwilling to
strike — I will not say the first blow, for South
Carolina has already struck that — but I am unwill-
ing, " under all the circumstances," at this moment
to do any act which may have the semblance before
the world of beginning a civil war, the terrible con-
sequences of which would, I think, find no parallel in
modern times; for I am convinced that flagrant civil
war In the Southern States would soon become a social
war, and that could hardly fail to bring on a servile
war, the horrors of which need not be dwelt upon.

To avoid these evils I would make great sacrifices,
and Fort Sumter is one; but if war be forced upon

220 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i6

us by causeless and pertinacious rebellion, I am for
resisting it with all the might of the nation.

I am persuaded, moreover, that in several of the
misguided States a large proportion of the people
are really lovers of the Union, and anxious to be
safely back under the protection of its flag. A re-
action has already begun, and if encouraged by wise,
moderate, and firm measures on the part of this gov-
ernment, I persuade myself that the nation will be re-
stored to its integrity without the effusion of blood.

For these reasons I am willing to evacuate Fort
Sumter, rather than be an active party in the be-
ginning of civil war. The port of Charleston is,
comparatively, a small thing. If the present diffi-
culties should continue and grow, I am convinced that
the real struggle will be at the Mississippi; for it is
not politically possible for any foreign power to hold
the mouth of that river against the people of the
middle and upper valley.

If Fort Sumter must be evacuated, then it is my
decided opinion that the more southern forts, Pick-
ens, Key West, etc., should, without delay, be put
in condition of easy defense against all assailants;
and that the whole coast, from South Carolina to
Texas, should be as well guarded as the power of the
navy will enable us.

Upon the whole, I do not think It wise now to
attempt to provision Fort Sumter.
Most respectfully submitted,

Your obedient servant,
Edwd. Bates, Attorney-General,

Fort Sumter
From a Rare Engraving.

i86i] Message to Senate 221

Message to the Senate, March 16, 1861

TO THE SENATE of the United States :
The Senate has transmitted to me a
copy of the message sent by my prede-
cessor to that body on the 21st of February last,
proposing to take its advice on the subject of a
proposition made by the British government
through its minister here to refer the matter in
controversy between that government and the
government of the United States to the arbitra-
ment of the King of Sweden and Norway, the
King of the Netherlands, or the Republic of the
Swiss Confederation.

In that message my predecessor stated that he
wished to present to the Senate the precise ques-
tions following, namely: "Will the Senate ap-
prove a treaty referring to either of the sover-
eign powers above named the dispute now
existing between the governments of the United
States and Great Britain concerning the bound-
ary line between Vancouver's Island and the
American continent? In case the referee shall
find himself unable to decide where the line is
by the description of it in the treaty of June 15,
1846, shall he be authorized to establish a line

222 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. i8

according to the treaty as nearly as possible?
Which of the three powers named by Great
Britain as an arbiter shall be chosen by the
United States?"

I find no reason to disapprove of the course of
my predecessor in this important matter; but,
on the contrary, I not only shali receive the ad-
vice of the Senate thereon cheerfully, but I re-
spectfully ask the Senate for their advice on the
three questions before recited.

Abraham Lincoln.

Reply to the Minister from Nicaragua,
March i6, 1861

Mr. Molina : I am happy to receive the letters
you present, and to recognize you, sir, as Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of
Nicaragua near the United States. In conferring
a higher rank upon you as a token of regard, on
the part of the government and the people of
Nicaragua, toward this country, they have done
our government and people an honor for which
we are truly grateful ; while they have also mani-
fested an increased confidence in you, which we
can attest is deserved ; and thereby have done you
a distinguished honor upon which we congrat-
ulate you.

On behalf of the United States I fully recipro-
cate, toward your government and people, the

i86i1 Letter to Seward 22^

kind wishes and friendly purposes you so gener-
ously express toward ours.

Please communicate to His Excellency the
President of Nicaragua my high esteem and con-
sideration, and my earnest wish for his health,
happiness, and long life.

Be assured, sir, I do not allow myself to doubt
that your public duties and social intercourse
here will be so conducted as to be entirely ac-
ceptable to the government and people of the
United States.

Letter to Secretary Seward

ExECUTFV'E Mansion, March i8, 1861.

My dear Sir: I believe it is a necessity with
us to make the appointments I mentioned last
night — that is, Charles F. Adams to England,
William L. Dayton to France, George P. Marsh
to Sardinia, and Anson Burlingame to Austria.
These gentlemen all have my highest esteem,
but no one of them is originally suggested by me
except Mr. Dayton. Mr. Adams I take because
you suggested him, coupled with his eminent
fitness for the place. Mr. Marsh and Mr. Bur-
lingame I take because of the intense pressure
of their respective States, and their fitness also.

The objection to this card is that locally they
are so huddled up — three being in New England
and Uvo from a single State. I have considered

224 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 26

this, and will not shrink from the responsibility.
This, being done, leaves but five full missions
undisposed of — Rome, China, Brazil, Peru, and
Chili. And then what about Carl Schurz; or,
in other words, what about our German friends?
Shall we put the card through, and arrange
the rest afterward? What say you?
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Chase

Executive Mansion, March 18, 1861.

Sir: I shall be obliged if you will inform
me whether any goods, wares, and merchandise
subject by law to the payment of duties, are now
being imported into the United States without
such duties being paid or secured according to
law. And if yea, at what place or places, and
for what cause, do such duties remain unpaid or
unsecured?

I will also thank you for your opinion
whether, as a matter of fact, vessels off shore
could be effectively used to prevent such im-
portations, or to enforce the payment or securing
of the duties. If yea, what number and descrip-
tion of vessels in addition to those already in the
revenue service would be requisite?
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

i86i] Message to Senate 225

Letter to Secretary Welles

Executive Mansion, March i8, 1861.
Sir: I shall be obliged if you will inform
me what amount of naval force you could at
once place at the control of the revenue service,
and also whether at some distance of time you
could so place an additional force, and how
much? and at what time?

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Attorney-General Bates

Executive Mansion, March 18, 1861.
Sir: I shall be obliged if you will give me
your opinion in writing whether, under the Con-
stitution and existing laws, the executive has
power to collect duties on shipboard off shore in
cases where their collection in the ordinary way
is by any cause rendered impracticable. This
would include the question of lawful power to
prevent the landing of dutiable goods unless the
duties were paid.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Message to the Senate, March 26, 1861

To the Senate of the United States: I have
received a copy of the resolution of the Senate,

226 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 29

passed on the 25th instant, requesting me, if in
my opinion not incompatible with the public
interest, to communicate to the Senate the
despatches of Major Robert Anderson to the
War Department during the time he has been in
command of Fort Sumter. On examination of
the correspondence thus called for, I have, with
the highest respect for the Senate, come to the
conclusion that at the present moment the pub-
lication of it would be inexpedient.

Abraham Lincoln.

Order to the Secretary of War

Executive Mansion, March 29, 1861.
Sir: I desire that an expedition to move by
sea be got ready to sail as early as the 6th of
April next, the whole according to memoran-
dum attached, and that you cooperate with the
Secretary of the Navy for that object.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

\_Inclosure.~\

Steamers Pocahontas at Norfolk, Pawnee at
Washington, Harriet Lane at New York, to be
under sailing orders for sea, with stores, etc.,
for one month. Three hundred men to be kept
ready for departure from on board the receiv-
ing-ships at New York.

Two hundred men to be ready to leave Gov-

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 227

ernor's Island in New York, Supplies for twelve
months for one hundred men to be put in port-
able shape, ready for instant shipping. A large
steamer and three tugs conditionally engaged.

Opinions Written by Members of the
Cabinet at the Verbal Request of the
President, at a Cabinet Meeting held to
Determine the Question of Sending an
Expedition to Relieve Fort Sumter,
March 29, 1861.

Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, wrote:

First. The despatch of an expedition to supply
or reinforce Sumter would provoke an attack, and so
involve a war at that point.

The fact of preparation for such an expedition
would inevitably transpire, and would therefore pre-
cipitate the war, and probably defeat the object. I
do not think it wise to provoke a civil war beginning
at Charleston, and in rescue of an untenable position.

Therefore I advise against the expedition in every
view.

Second. I would call in Captain M. C. Meigs
forthwith. Aided by his counsel, I would at once,
and at every cost, prepare for a war at Pensacola
and Texas: to be taken, however, only as a conse-
quence of maintaining the possessions and authority
of the United States.

Third. I would instruct Major Anderson to re-
tire from Sumter forthwith.

228 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 29

Mr. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, wrote:

If war is to be the consequence of an attempt to
provision Fort Sumter, war will just as certainly re-
sult from the attempt to maintain possession of Fort
Pickens.

I am clearly in favor of maintaining Fort Pickens,
and just as clearly in favor of provisioning Fort
Sumter.

If that attempt be resisted by military force. Fort
Sumter should; in my judgment, be reinforced.

If war is to be the result, I perceive no reason why
it may not be best begun in consequence of military
resistance to the efforts of the administration to sus-
tain troops of the Union, stationed under the author-
ity of the government, in a fort of the Union, in the
ordinary course of service.

Mr. Welles, Secretary of the Navy wrote:

I concur in the proposition to send an armed force
off Charleston with supplies of provisions and rein-
forcements for the garrison at Fort Sumter, and of
communicating at the proper time the intentions of
the government to provision the fort peaceably if
unmolested. There is little probability that this will
be permitted if the opposing forces can prevent it.
An attempt to force in provisions without reinforc-
ing the garrison at the same time might not be ad-
visable; but armed resistance to a peaceable attempt
to send provisions to one of our own forts will justify
the government in using all the power at its com-

i86i] Cabinet Opinion on Sumter 229

mand to reinforce the garrison and furnish the neces-
sary supphes.

Fort Pickens and other places retained should be
strengthened by additional troops, and, if possible,
made impregnable.

The naval force in the gulf and on the southern
coast should be increased. Accounts are published
that vessels having on board marketable produce's
for the crews of the squadron at Pensacola are
seized — the inhabitants we know are prohibited
from furnishing the ships with provisions or water;
and the time has arrived when it is the duty of the
government to assert and maintain its authority.

Mr. Smith, Secretary of the Interior, wrote:

Viewing the question whether Fort Sumter shall be
evacuated as a political one, I remark that the effect
of its evacuation upon the public mind will depend
upon the concurrent and subsequent action of the
government. If it shall be understood that by its
evacuation we intend to acknowledge our inability
to enforce the laws, and our intention to allow
treason and rebellion to run their course, the measure
will be extremely disastrous and the administration
will become very unpopular. If, however, the coun-
try can be made to understand that the fort is aban-
doned from necessity, and at the same time Fort
Pickens and other forts in our possession shall be de-
fended, and the power of the govemmxent vindicated,
the measure will be popular and the country will sus-
tain the administration.

230 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 30

Believing that Fort Sumter cannot be successfully
defended, I regard its evacuation as a necessity, and
I advise that Major Anderson's command shall be
unconditionally withdrawn.

At the same time I would adopt the most vigorous
measures for the defense of the other forts, and if
we have the power I would blockade the Southern
ports, and enforce the collection of the revenue with
all the power of the government.

Mr. Blair, Postmaster-General, wrote:

First. As regards General Scott, I have no con-
fidence in his judgment on the questions of the day.
His political views control his judgment, and his
course as remarked on by the President shows that
whilst no one will question his patriotism, the results
are the same as if he was in fact traitorous.

Second. It is acknowledged to be possible to re-
lieve Fort Sumter. It ought to be relieved without
reference to Pickens or any other possession. South
Carolina is the head and front of this rebellion, and
when that State is safely delivered from the author-
ity of the United States it will strike a blow against
our authority from which it will take us years of
bloody strife to recover.

Third. For my own part, I am unwilling to share
in the responsibility of such a policy.

Mr. Bates, Attorney-General, wrote:

It is my decided opinion that Fort Pickens and
Key West ought to be reinforced and supplied, so as

i86i] Letter to Stuart 231

to look down opposition at all hazards — and this
whether Fort Sumter be or be not evacuated.

It is also my opinion that there ought to be a naval
force kept upon the southern coast sufficient to com-
mand it and, if need be, actually close any port that
practically ought to be closed, whatever other station
is left unoccupied.

It is also my opinion that there ought to be im-
mediately estabhshed a line of light, fast-running
vessels, to pass as rapidly as possible between New
York or Norfolk at the North and Key West or
other point in the gulf at the South.

As to Fort Sumter, I think the time is come either
to evacuate or relieve it.

*Letter to John T. Stuart

Washington, March 30, 1861.

Dear Stuart: Cousin Lizzie shows me your
letter of the 27th. The question of giving her
the Springfield Post-office troubles me. You
see I have already appointed William Jayne a
territorial governor and Judge Trumbull's
brother to a land-office. Will It do for me to go
on and justify the declaration that Trumbull and
I have divided out all the offices among our rela-
tives? Dr. Wallace you know, Is needy, and
looks to me; and I personally owe him much.

I see by the papers, a vote Is to be taken as to
the Post-office. Could you not set up Lizzie
and beat them all? She, being here, need know

232 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. i

nothing of it, so therefore there would be no in-
delicacy on her part.

Yours, as ever,

A. Lincoln.

Order to Lieutenant D. D. Porter

Executive Mansion, Washington, April i, 1861.

Lieutenant D. D. Porter will take command
of the Steamer Powhatan, or any other United
States steamer ready for sea which he may deem
most fit for the service to which he has been
assigned by confidential instructions of this date.

All officers are commanded to afiford him all
such facilities as he may deem necessary for
getting to sea as soon as possible.

He will select the officers to accompany him.
Abraham Lincoln.

Recommended, WILLIAM H. Seward.

Instructions to Lieutenant D. D. Porter

Executive Mansion, April i, 1861.

Sir: You will proceed to New York, and
with the least possible delay, assuming command
of any naval steamer available, proceed to Pen-
sacola Harbor, and at any cost or risk prevent
any expedition from the mainland reaching Fort
Pickens or Santa Rosa Island.

You will exhibit this order to any naval officer
at Pensacola, if you deem it necessary, after you

i86i] Order to Army and Navy 233

have established yourself within the harbor, and
will request cooperation by the entrance of at
least one other steamer.

This order, its object, and your destination
will be communicated to no person whatever
until you reach the harbor of Pensacola.

Abil^ham Lincoln.

Recommended, WILLIAM H. SewaRD.

Order to Commandant Andrew H. Foote

Navy Department, Washington, April i, 1861.
Fit out the Powhatan to go to sea at the earliest
possible moment under sealed orders. Orders
by a confidential messenger go forward to-
morrow.

Abraham Lincoln.

Order to Officers of the Army and Navy

Executive Mansion,

Washington, April i, 1861.
All officers of the army and navy to whom this
order may be exhibited will aid by every means
in their power the expedition under the com-
mand of Colonel Harv^ey Brow^n, supplying him
with men and material, and cooperating with
him as he may desire.

Abraham Lincoln.

234 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. i

Memorandum from Secretary Seward

Some Thoughts for the President's Consideration,
April I, 1861.

First. We are at the end of a month's adminis-
tration, and yet without a policy either domestic or
foreign.

Second. This, however, is not culpable, and it has
even been unavoidable. The presence of the Senate,
with the need to meet applications for patronage,
have prevented attention to other and more grave
matters.

Third. But further delay to adopt and prosecute
our policies for both domestic and foreign affairs
would not only bring scandal on the administration,
but danger upon the country.

Fourth. To do this we must dismiss the applicants
for office. But how? I suggest that we make the
local appointments forthwith, leaving foreign or
general ones for ulterior and occasional action.

Fifth. The policy at home. I am aware that my
views are singular, and perhaps not sufficiently ex-
plained. My system is built upon this idea as a ruling
one, namely, that we must

Change the question before the public
from one upon slavery, or about slavery, for
a question upon union or disunion :

In other words, from what would be regarded as
a party question, to one of patriotism or union.
The occupation or evacuation of Fort Sumter, al-

i86i] Seward Memorandum 235

though not in fact a slavery or a party question, is so
regarded. Witness the temper manifested by the
Republicans in the free States, and even by the Union
men in the South.

I would therefore terminate it as a safe means for
changing the issue. I deem it fortunate that the last
administration created the necessity.

For the rest, I would simultaneously defend and
reinforce all the ports in the gulf, and have the navy
recalled from foreign stations to be prepared for a
blockade. Put the island of Key West under martial
law.

This will raise distinctly the question of union
or disunion. I would maintain every fort and pos-
session in the South.

FOR FOREIGN NATIONS.

I would demand explanations from Spain and
France, categorically, at once.

I would seek explanations from Great Britain and
Russia, and send agents into Canada, Mexico, and
Central America to rouse a vigorous continental spirit
of independence on this continent against European
intervention.

And, if satisfactory explanations are not received
from Spain and France,

Would convene Congress and declare war against
them.

But whatever policy we adopt, there must be an
energetic prosecution of it.

For this purpose it must be somebody's business
to pursue and direct it incessantly.

236 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. i

Either the President must do it himself, and be all
the while active in it, or

Devolve it on some member of his cabinet. Once
adopted, debates on it must end, and all agree and
abide.

It is not in my especial province ;

But I neither seek to evade nor assume responsi-
bility.

Reply to Secretary Seward's Memorandum

Executive Mansion, April i, 1861.

My dear Sir: Since parting with you I have
been considering your paper dated this day, and
entitled ^'Some Thoughts for the President's
Consideration." The first proposition in it is,
''First, We are at the end of a month's adminis-
tration, and yet v^ithout a policy either domestic
or foreign."

At the beginning of that month, in the in-
augural, I said : 'The powder confided to me will
be used to hold, occupy, and possess the prop-
erty and places belonging to the government,
and to collect the duties and imposts." This had
your distinct approval at the time; and, taken in
connection with the order I immediately gave
General Scott, directing him to employ every
means in his power to strengthen and hold the
forts, comprises the exact domestic policy you
now urge, with the single exception that it does
not propose to abandon Fort Sumter.

i86i] Reply to Memorandum 237

Again, I do not perceive how the reinforce-
ment of Fort Sumter would be done on a slavery
or a party issue, while that of Fort Pickens
would be on a more national and patriotic one.

The news received yesterday in regard to St.
Domingo certainly brings a new item within
the range of our foreign policy; but up to that
time we have been preparing circulars and in-
structions to ministers and the like, all in perfect
harmony, without even a suggestion that we had
no foreign policy.

Upon your closing propositions — that "what-
ever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic
prosecution of it.

"For this purpose it must be somebody's busi-
ness to pursue and direct it incessantly.

"Either the President must do it himself, and
be all the while active in it, or

"Devolve it on some member of his cabinet.
Once adopted, debates on it must end, and all
agree and abide" — I remark that if this must be
done, I must do it. When a general line of
policy is adopted, I apprehend there is no dan-
ger of its being changed without good reason, or
continuing to be a subject of unnecessary debate;
still, upon points arising in its progress I wish,
and suppose I am entitled to have, the advice of
all the cabinet.

Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN.

238 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 4

Letter to General Scott

Executive Mansion, April i, 1861.
Would it impose too much labor on General
Scott to make short comprehensive daily reports
to me of what occurs in his department, includ-
ing movements by himself, and under his orders,
and the receipt of intelligence? If not, I v^ill
thank him to do so.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Order to Captain Samuel Mercer

[Confidential.)
Washington City, April 2, 1861.
Sir: Circumstances render it necessary to
place in command of your ship (and for a
special purpose) an officer who is fully informed
and instructed in relation to the wishes of the
government, and you will therefore consider
yourself detached. But in taking this step the
government does not in the least reflect upon
your efficiency or patriotism; on the contrary,
have the fullest confidence in your ability to
perform any duty required of you. Hoping soon
to be able to give you a better command than the
one you now enjoy, and trusting that you will
have full confidence in the disposition of the
government toward you, I remain, etc.,

Abraham Lincoln.

i86i] Instructions to Anderson 239
*Order on Secretary of State

Executive Mansion, April 2, 1861.
I direct that ten thousand dollars be paid to
Captain M. C. Meigs, by the Secretary of State,
from the Secret Service Fund.

Abraham Lincoln.

Order to Lieutenant- Colonel Keyes

Executive Mansion, Washington, April 3, 1861.
You will proceed forthwith to the city of New
York, to carry out the instructions which you
have received here. All requisitions made upon
officers of the stafif by your authority, and all
orders given by you to any officer of the army in
my name, will be instantly obeyed.

Abraham Lincoln.

Instructions to Major Robert Anderson

Drafted by President Lincoln and Signed by the
Secretary of War.
War Department, Washington, April 4, 1861.

Sir: Your letter of the ist instant occasions
some anxiety to the President.

On the information of Captain Fox, he had
supposed you could hold out till the 15th instant
without any great inconvenience, and had pre-
pared an expedition to relieve you before that
period.

240 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 6

Hoping still that you will be able to sustain
yourself till the nth or 12th instant, the expedi-
tion will go forward, and, finding your flag fly-
ing, will attempt to provision you, and in case the
effort is resisted, will endeavor also to reinforce
you.

You will therefore hold out, if possible, till
the arrival of the expedition.

It is not, however, the intention of the Presi-
dent to subject your command to any danger
or hardship beyond what, in your judgment,
would be usual in military life ; and he has entire
confidence that you will act as becomes a patriot
and a soldier under all circumstances.

Whenever, if at all, in your judgment, to save
yourself and command, a capitulation becomes a
necessity, you are authorized to make it.
Respectfully,

[Simon Cameron.]

[^Indorsement in Lincoln's handwriting].

This was sent by Captain Talbot on April 6,
1 86 1, to be delivered to Major Anderson, if per-
mitted. On reaching Charleston, he was refused
permission to deliver it to Major Anderson.

i86i] Instructions to R. S. Chew 241
Instructions to R. S. Chew

Drafted by President Lincoln and Signed by the
Secretary of War.

Washington, April 6, 1861.

Sir: You will proceed directly to Charles-
ton, South Carolina; and if, on your arrival
there, the flag of the United States shall be fly-
ing over Fort Sumter, and the fort shall not have
been attacked, you will procure an interview
with Governor Pickens, and read to him as fol-
lows: "I am directed by the President of the
United States to notify you to expect an attempt
will be made to supply Fort Sumter with pro-
visions only; and that, if such attempt be not
resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or am-
munition will be made without further notice,
or in case of an attack upon the fort."

After you shall have read this to Governor
Pickens, deliver to him the copy of it herein in-
closed, and retain this letter yourself.

But if, on your arrival at Charleston, you shall
ascertain that Fort Sumter shall have been al-
ready evacuated, or surrendered by the United
States force, or shall have been attacked by an
opposing force, you will seek no interview with
Governor Pickens, but return here forthwith.

242 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 13

*NoTE TO Secretary of War

Executive Mansion, April lo, 1861.
Dear Sir: Gov. Curtin telegraphs us to send
him a drill-officer. Better send one at once. I
have talked with Colonel Smith about it.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

*AUTHORIZATION OF A WASHINGTON NEWS-
PAPER
Executive Department,

Washington, April nth, 1861.
In virtue of his authority to designate at dis-
cretion one newspaper in the city of Washing-
ton for the publication of notices and advertise-
ments from the executive departments, in ad-
dition to the two entitled to such publication, by
having the largest permanent subscription,
(U. S. Statutes, Vol. 5, page 795), the President
designates the "National Republican" and his
private secretary will communicate this order to
the several executive departments.

Abraham Lincoln.

[Endorsement of Same, February 16, l86j.']
Although I do not perceive the necessity of it,
I have no objection to say the above designation
is to stand, until further order, notwithstanding
any change of proprietors which may have oc-
curred. A. Lincoln.

i86i] To Virginia Convention 243

Reply to a Committee Composed of William
Ballard Preston, Alexander H. H. Stuart
AND George W. Randolph, from the Vir-
ginia Convention, April 13, 1861

Gentlemen: As a committee of the Virginia
Convention now in session, you present me a
preamble and resolution in these words:

Whereas, in the opinion of this Convention, the
uncertainty which prevails In the public mind as to
the policy which the Federal Executive Intends to
pursue toward the seceded States Is extremely In-
jurious to the Industrial and commercial Interests of
the country, tends to keep up an excitement which Is
unfavorable to the adjustment of pending difficulties,
and threatens a disturbance of the public peace : there-
fore

Resolved, that a committee of three delegates be
appointed by this Convention to wait upon the Presi-
dent of the United States, present to him this pre-
amble and resolution, and respectfully ask him to
communicate to this Convention the policy which the
Federal Executive Intends to pursue In regard to the
Confederate States.

Adopted by the Convention of the State of Vir-
ginia, Richmond, April 8, 1861.

In answer I have to say that, having at the
beginning of my official term expressed my in-
tended policy as plainly as I was able, it is with

244 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 13

deep regret and some mortification I now learn
that there is great and injurious uncertainty in
the public mind as to what that policy is, and
what course I intend to pursue. Not having as
yet seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose
to pursue the course marked out in the inaugural
address. I commend a careful consideration of
the whole document as the best expression I can
give of my purposes.

As I then and therein said, I now repeat:
*'The power confided to me will be used to hold,
occupy, and possess the property and places be-
longing to the government, and to collect the
duties and imposts ; but beyond what is necessary
for these objects, there will be no invasion, no
using of force against or among the people any-
where." By the words "property and places be-
longing to the government," I chiefly allude to
the military posts and property which were in
the possession of the government when it came
to my hands.

But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit
of a purpose to drive the United States authority
from these places, an unprovoked assault has
been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold my-
self at liberty to repossess, if I can, like places
which had been seized before the government
was devolved upon me. And in every event I
shall, to the extent of my ability, repel force by

i86i] To Virginia Convention 245

force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter
has been assaulted, as is reported, I shall perhaps
cause the United States mails to be withdrawn
from all the States which claim to have seceded,
believing that the commencement of actual war
against the government justifies and possibly de-
mands this.

I scarcely need to say that I consider the mili-
tary posts and property situated within the States
which claim to have seceded as yet belonging to
the government of the United States as much as
they did before the supposed secession.

Whatever else I may do for the purpose, I
shall not attempt to collect the duties and im-
posts by any armed invasion of any part of the
country; not meaning by this, however, that I
may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve
a fort upon a border of the country.

From the fact that I have quoted a part of
the inaugural address, it must not be inferred
that I repudiate any other part, the whole of
which I reaffirm, except so far as what I now
say of the mails may be regarded as a modifica-
tion.

246 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 15

Proclamation calling 75,000 Militia, and
Convening Congress in Extra Session,
April 15, 1861.

By the President of the United States of
America :

A Proclamation.

WHEREAS the laws of the United States
have been for some time past and
now are opposed, and the execution
thereof obstructed, in the States of South Caro-
lina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too
powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers
vested in the marshals by law:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi-
dent of the United States, in virtue of the power
in me vested by the Constitution and the laws,
have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call
forth, the militia of the several States of the
Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five
thousand, in order to suppress said combinations,
and to cause the laws to be duly executed.

The details for this object will be immediately

i86i] Proclamation for Militia 247

communicated to the State authorities through
the War Department.

I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facili-
tate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor,
the integrity, and the existence of our National
Union, and the perpetuity of popular govern-
ment; and to redress wrongs already long enough
endured.

I deem it proper to say that the first service
assigned to the forces hereby called forth will
probably be to repossess the forts, places, and
property which have been seized from the
Union ; and in every event the utmost care will
be observed, consistently with the objects afore-
said, to avoid any devastation, and destruction
of or interference with property, or any dis-
turbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the
country.

And I hereby command the persons compos-
ing the combinations aforesaid to disperse and
retire peacefully to their respective abodes with-
in twenty days from date.

Deeming that the present condition of public
affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do
hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by
the Constitution, convene both Houses of Con-
gress. Senators and Representatives are there-
fore summoned to assemble at their respective
chambers, at twelve o'clock noon, on Thursday,

248 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 19

the fourth day of July next, then and there to
consider and determine such measures as, in
their wisdom, the public safety and interest may
seem to demand.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand, and caused the seal of the United States
to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this

15th day of April, in the year of our

[l. S.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and

sixty-one, and of the independence of

the United States the eighty-fifth.

Abraham Lincoln.
By the President: William H. Seward, Sec-
retary of State.

Proclamation of Blockade, April 19, 1861

By the President of the United States of

America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas an insurrection against the govern-
ment of the United States has broken out in the
States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and
the laws of the United States for the collection
of the revenue cannot be effectually executed
therein conformably to that provision of the
Constitution which requires duties to be uniform
throughout the United States:

i86i] Proclamation of Blockade 249

And whereas a combination of persons en-
gaged in such insurrection have threatened to
grant pretended letters of marque to authorize
the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the
lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of
the country lawfully engaged in commerce on
the high seas, and in waters of the United States :

And whereas an executive proclamation has
been already issued requiring the persons en-
gaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist
therefrom, calling out a militia force for the
purpose of repressing the same, and convening
Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate
and determine thereon:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi-
dent of the United States, with a view to the same
purposes before mentioned, and to the protection
of the public peace, and the lives and property
of quiet and orderly citizens pursuings their law-
ful occupations, until Congress shall have as-
sembled and deliberated on the said unlawful
proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased,
have further deemed it advisable to set on foot
a blockade of the ports within the States afore-
said, in pursuance of the laws of the United
States, and of the law of nations in such case
provided. For this purpose a competent force
will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit
of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, there-

250 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 20

fore, with a view to violate such blockade, a
vessel shall approach or shall attempt to leave
either of the said ports, she will be duly warned
by the commander of one of the blockading
vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact
and date of such warning, and if the same vessel
shall again attempt to enter or leave the block-
aded port, she will be captured and sent to the
nearest convenient port, for such proceedings
against her and her cargo, as prize, as may be
deemed advisable.

And I hereby proclaim and declare that if any
person, under the pretended authority of the said
States, or under any other pretense, shall molest
a vessel of the United States, or the persons or
cargo on board of her, such person will be held
amenable to the laws of the United States for the
prevention and punishment of piracy.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused the seal of the United States
to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this

nineteenth day of April, in the year of

[L. S.] our Lord one thousand eight hundred

and sixty-one, and of the independence

of the United States the eighty-fifth.

Abraham Lincoln.

By the President: WILLIAM H. Seward, Sec-
retary of State.

i86i] Reply to Hicks and Brown 251
Reply to Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown

Washington, April 20, 1861.

Gentlemen: Your letter by Messrs. Bond,
Dobbin, and Brune is received. I tender you
both my sincere thanks for your efforts to keep
the peace in the trying situation in which you
are placed.

For the future troops must be brought here,
but I make no point of bringing them through
Baltimore, Without any military knowledge
myself, of course I must leave details to General
Scott, He hastily said this morning in the
presence of these gentlemen, "March them
around Baltimore, and not through it." I sin-
cerely hope the general, on fuller reflection, will
consider this practical and proper, and that you
will not object to it. By this a collision of the
people of Baltimore with the troops will be
avoided, unless they go out of their way to seek
it. I hope you will exert your influence to pre-
vent this.

Now and ever I shall do all in my power for
peace consistently with the maintenance of the
government.

Your obedient servant,

Abraham LincolNc

252 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 22

Telegram to Governor Hicks

Washington, April 20, 1861.
Governor Hicks: I desire to consult with
you and the mayor of Baltimore relative to pre-
serving the peace of Maryland. Please come
immediately by special train, which you can take
at Baltimore; or, if necessary, one can be sent
from here. Answer forthwith.

Lincoln.

Letter from the Secretary of State to the
Governor of Maryland

Department of State, April 22, 1861.

Sir: I have the honor to receive your com-
munication of this morning, in which you in-
form me that you had felt it to be your duty to
advise the President of the United States to
order elsewhere the troop then off Annapolis,
and also that no more may be sent through Mary-
land; and that you have further suggested that
Lord Lyons be requested to act as mediator be-
tween the contending parties in our country, to
prevent the effusion of blood.

The President directs me to acknowledge the
receipt of that communication, and to assure you
that he has weighed the counsels it contains with
the respect which he habitually cherishes for the
chief magistrates of the several States, and es-

i86i] Letter to Hicks 253

pecially for yourself. He regrets, as deeply as
any magistrate or citizen of this country can, that
demonstrations against the safety of the United
States, with very extensive preparations for the
effusion of blood, have made it his duty to call
out the forces to which you allude.

The force now sought to be brought through
Maryland is intended for nothing but the de-
fense of the capital. The President has neces-
sarily confided the choice of the national high-
way which that force shall take in coming to this
city to the lieutenant-general commanding the
army of the United States, who, like his only pre-
decessor, is not less distinguished for his human-
ity than for his loyalty, patriotism, and distin-
guished public services.

The President instructs me to add that the
national highway thus selected by the lieutenant-
general has been chosen by him, upon consulta-
tion with prominent magistrates and citizens of
Maryland, as the one which, while a route is
absolutely necessary, is farthest removed from
the populous cities of the State, and with the
expectation that it would therefore be the least
objectionable one.

He cannot but remember that there has been
a time in the history of our country when a gen-
eral of the American Union, with forces de-
signed for the defense of its capital, was not un^

254 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 25

welcome any^vhere in the State of Maryland,
and certainly not at Annapolis, then, as now, the
capital of that patriotic State, and then also one
of the capitals of the Union.

If eighty years could have obliterated all the
other noble sentiments of that age in Maryland,
the President would be hopeful, nevertheless,
that there is one that would forever remain there
and everjrvvhere. That sentiment is, that no do-
mestic contention whatever that may arise among
the parties of this republic ought in any case to
be referred to any foreign arbitrament, least of
all to the arbitrament of a European monarchy.

I have the honor to be, with distinguished con-
sideration, your Excellency's most obedient
servant, William H. Seward.

Letter to Reverdy Johnson

(Confidential.)
Executive Mansion, April 24, 1861.
My dear Sir: Your note of this morning is
just received. I forbore to answer yours of the
22d because of my aversion (which I thought
you understood) to getting on paper and fur-
nishing new grounds for misunderstanding. I
do say the sole purpose of bringing troops here
is to defend this capital. I do say I have no
purpose to invade Virginia with them or any
other troops^ as I understand the word invasion.

i86i] Order to General Scott 255

But, suppose Virginia sends her troops, or ad-
mits others through her borders, to assail this
capital, am I not to repel them even to the cross-
ing of the Potomac, if I can? Suppose Virginia
erects, or permits to be erected, batteries on the
opposite shore to bombard the city, are we to
stand still and see it done? In a word, if Vir-
ginia strikes us, are we not to strike back, and
as effectively as we can? Again, are we not to
hold Fort Monroe (for instance) if we can? I
have no objection to declare a thousand times
that I have no purpose to invade Virginia or
any other State, but I do not mean to let them
invade us without striking back.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

Order to General Scott

Washington, April 25, 1861.
My dear Sir: The Maryland legislature as-
sembles to-morrow at Annapolis, and not im-
probably will take action to arm the people of
that State against the United States. The ques-
tion has been submitted to and considered by me,
whether it would not be justifiable, upon the
ground of necessary defense, for you, as general-
in-chief of the United States army, to arrest or
disperse the members of that body. I think it
would not be justifiable nor efficient for the de-
sired object.

2^6 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 27

First, they have a clearly legal right to as-
semble; and we cannot know in advance that
their action will not be lawful and peaceful.
And if we wait until they shall have acted, their
arrest or dispersion will not lessen the effect of
their action.

Secondly, we cannot permanently prevent
their action. If we arrest them, we cannot long
hold them as prisoners; and, when liberated,
they will immediately reassemble and take their
action; and precisely the same if we simply dis-
perse them — they will immediately reassemble
in some other place.

I therefore conclude that it is only left to the
commanding general to watch and wait their
action, which, if it shall be to arm their people
against the United States, he is to adopt the most
prompt and efficient means to counteract, even, if
necessary, to the bombardment of their cities,
and, in the extremest necessity, the suspension
of the writ of habeas corpus.

Your obedient servant,

Abraham Lincoln.

Proclamation of Blockade, April 27, 1861

By the President of the United States of

America :

A Proclamation.

Whereas, for the reasons assigned in my proc-

i86i] Proclamation of Blockade 257

lamation of the nineteenth instant, a blockade
of the ports of the States of South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Missis-
sippi, and Texas, was ordered to be established:

And whereas, since that date, public property
of the United States has been seized, the collec-
tion of the revenue obstructed, and duly com-
missioned officers of the United States, while
engaged in executing the orders of their su-
periors, have been arrested and held in custody
as prisoners, or have been impeded in the dis-
charge of their official duties, without due legal
process, by persons claiming to act under au-
thorities of the States of Virginia and North
Carolina.

An efficient blockade of the ports of those
States will also be established.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused the seal of the United States to
be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this

twenty- seventh day of April, in the year

[l. S.] of our Lord one thousand eight hundred

and sixty-one, and of the independence

of the United States the eighty-fifth.

Abraham Lincoln.

By the President: WILLIAM H. Seward,
Secretary of State.

2^8 Abraham Lincoln [May i

Order to General Scott, April 27, 1861
You are engaged in suppressing an insurrec-
tion against the laws of the United States. If
at any point on or in the vicinity of any military
line which is now or which shall be used be-
tween the city of Philadelphia and the
city of Washington you find resistance which
renders it necessary to suspend the writ of
habeas corpus for the public safety, you person-
ally, or through the officer in command at the
point at which resistance occurs, are authorized
to suspend that writ.

Abraham Lincoln.

*NoTE TO Secretary of the Interior

Executive Mansion, April 29, 1861.
Dear Sir: If the Pawnee Indian Agency has
not already been disposed of, send a commis-
sioner for it, in favor of Henry W. DePuy, of
Nebraska. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

Unsigned Draft of Letter to the Governor
OF Tennessee

Washington, D. C, May [i?] 1861.

Sir: Yours of the 29th ultimo, calling my

attention to the supposed seizure near Cairo,

Illinois, of the steamboat C. E. HiUman, and

claiming that the said boat and its cargo are the

i86i] To Governor of Tennessee 259

property of the State of Tennessee and her citi-
zens, and demanding to know whether the
seizure was made by the authority of this gov-
ernment, or is approved by it, is duly received.
In answer I have to say: this government has no
official information of such seizure; but, assum-
ing that such seizure was made, and that the
cargo consisted chiefly of munitions of war
owned by the State of Tennessee, and passing
into the control of its governor, this govern-
ment avows the seizure for the following
reasons :

A legal call was recently made upon the
said governor of Tennessee to furnish a quota
of militia to suppress an insurrection against
the United States, which call said governor re-
sponded to by a refusal couched in disrespectful
and malicious language. This government
therefore infers that munitions of war passing
into the hands of said governor are intended
to be used against the United States, and the
government will not indulge the weakness of
allowing it so long as it is in its power to pre-
vent. This government will not at present
question but that the State of Tennessee, by
a large majority of its citizens, is loyal to the
Federal Union, and the government holds itself
responsible, in damages, for all injuries it may
do to any one who may prove to be such.

26o Abraham Lincoln [May i

Letter to Major Robert Anderson

Washington, D. C, May i, 1861.

My dear Sir: A few days ago I caused an
official letter to be written to you, through the
War Department, expressive of the approbation
and gratitude I considered due you and your
command from this government.

I now write this as a purely private and social
letter to say I shall be much gratified to see you
here at your earliest convenience, when and
where I can personally testify my appreciation
of your services and fidelity, and perhaps ex-
plain some things on my part which you may
not have understood.

I shall also be very glad to see any of the
officers who served with you at Fort Sumter,
and whom it might be convenient and agree-
able for you to invite to accompany you here.
Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN.

Letter from the President's Private Secre-
tary TO George W. Caldwell

(Private.)

Washington, May i, 1861.
Dear Sir: Your letter of the 25th ult., ad-
dressed to the President, was duly received and
considered. Will you please to write to me
where and how soon (and let the day be an

i86i] Letter to Fox 261

early one) the leading and responsible men en-
gaged in your movement can meet together, to
receive and consult with such gentlemen as the
government may send to represent its views
about the matter.

Yours truly,

Jno. G. Nicolay.

Letter to Gustavus V. Fox

Washington, May i, 1861.

My dear Sir: I sincerely regret that the
failure of the late attempt to provision Fort
Sumter should be the source of any annoyance
to you.

The practicability of your plan was not, in
fact, brought to a test. By reason of a gale,
well known in advance to be possible and not
improbable, the tugs, an essential part of the
plan, never reached the ground; while, by an
accident for which you were in no wise respon-
sible, and possibly I to some extent was, you
were deprived of a war vessel, with her men,
which you deemed of great importance to the
enterprise.

I most cheerfully and truly declare that the
failure of the undertaking has not lowered you
a particle, while the qualities you developed in
the effort have greatly heightened you in my
estimation.

262 Abraham Lincoln [May 3

For a daring and dangerous enterprise of a
similar character you would to-day be the man
of all my acquaintances whom I would select.
You and I both anticipated that the cause of
the country would be advanced by making the
attempt to provision Fort Sumter, even if it
should fail ; and it is no small consolation now to
feel that our anticipation is justified by the
result.

Very truly your friend,

A. Lincoln.

[86ii Proclamation for Militia 263

Proclamation calling 42,034 Volunteers,

ETC., May 3, 1861.
A Proclamation.

WHEREAS existing exigencies demand
immediate and adequate measures
for the protection of the National
Constitution and the preservation of the
National Union by the suppression of the insur-
rectionary combinations now existing in several
States for opposing the laws of the Union and
obstructing the execution thereof, to which end
a military force, in addition to that called forth
by my proclamation of the fifteenth day of
April in the present year, appears to be indis-
pensably necessary:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi-
dent of the United States and Commander-in-
Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, and of the
Militia of the several States when called into
actual service, do hereby call into the service
of the United States forty-two thousand and
thirty-four volunteers, to serve for the period of
three years unless sooner discharged, and to be
mustered into service as infantry and cavalry.
The proportions of each arm and the details of

264 Abraham Lincoln [May 6

enrollment and organization will be made
known through the Department of War.

And I also direct that the regular army of
the United States be increased by the addition
of eight regiments of infantry, one regiment
of cavalry, and one regiment of artillery, mak-
ing altogether a maximum aggregate increase of
twenty-two thousand seven hundred and four-
teen officers and enlisted men, the details of
which increase will also be made known through
the Department of War.

And I further direct the enlistment for not
less than one nor more than three years, of
eighteen thousand seamen, in addition to the
present force, for the naval service of the United
States. The details of the enlistment and or-
ganization will be made known through the De-
partment of the Navy.

The call for volunteers hereby made, and the
direction for the increase of the regular army,
and for the enlistment of seamen, hereby given,
together with the plan of organization adopted
for the volunteers and for the regular forces
hereby authorized, will be submitted to Con-
gress as soon as assembled.

In the meantime I earnestly invoke the co-
operation of all good citizens in the measures
hereby adopted for the effectual suppression of
unlawful violence, for the impartial enforce-

i86i] Letter to Hamlin 265

ment of constitutional laws, and for the
speediest possible restoration of peace and order,
and, with these, of happiness and prosperity,
throughout the country.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused the seal of the United States
to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this

third day of May, in the year of our

[l. S.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and

sixty-one, and of the independence of

the United States the eighty-fifth.

Abraham Lincoln.
By the President: William H. Seward,
Secretary of State.

Letter to Vice-President Hamlin

Washington, D. C, May 6, 1861.
My dear Sir: Please advise me at the close
of each day what troops left during the day,
where going and by what route; what remaining
at New York, and what expected in the next day.
Give the numbers, as near as convenient, and
what corps they are. This information, reach-
ing us daily, will be very useful as well as satis-
factory.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

266 Abraham Lincoln [May 7

Letter to Secretary Chase

Executive Mansion, May 6, 1861.
My dear Sir: Mr. French S. Evans, the
bearer of this, thinks there is an appraisership
still vacant at Baltimore, and if so, I very sin-
cerely wish you would give it to him. I have
been greatly — I may say grievously — disap-
pointed and disobliged by Mr. Corkran's refusal
to make Mr. Evans deputy naval officer, as I
requested him to do.

A point must be strained to give Mr. Evans
a situation.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter from John Hay to Johnson,

State Senator of Kentucky, May 6,
1861
The President directs me to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 26th ultimo, pro-
testing against the stationing of United States
troops at Cairo.

He directs me to say that the views so ably
stated by you shall have due consideration,
and to assure you that he would never have
ordered the movement of troops complained of
had he known that Cairo was in your senatorial
district.

i86i] Order to Anderson 267

Letter to Secretary Seward

Executive Mansion, May 6, 1861.
My dear Sir: General Cameron is anxious
that E. Joy Morris shall be minister to Con-
stantinople; and if General Webb has definitely
declined it, why might not Mr. Morris be ap-
pointed? Pennsylvania is well entitled to the
place, and General C. thinks there is political
reason for the appointment being made at once.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Order to Colonel Anderson, May 7, 1861

To all who shall see these presents, greeting:

Know ye that, reposing special trust and con-
fidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity, and
ability of Colonel Robert Anderson, U. S. Army,
I have empowered him, and do hereby empower
him, to receive into the army of the United
States as many regiments of volunteer troops
from the State of Kentucky and from the west-
ern part of the State of Virginia as shall be will-
ing to engage in the service of the United States
for the term of three years, upon the terms and
according to the plan proposed by the proclama-
tion of May 3, 1 861, and General Orders No. 15
from the War Department, of May 4, 1861.
The troops whom he receives shall be on the

268 Abraham Lincoln [May lo

same footing in every respect as those of the like
kind called for in the proclamation above cited,
except that the officers shall be commissioned by
the United States. He is therefore carefully and
diligently to discharge the duty hereby devolved
upon him by doing and performing all manner
of things thereunto belonging.

Given under my hand at the city of Washing-
ton, this seventh day of May, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
and in the eighty-fifth year of the independence
of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln.

By the President: SiMON CAMERON, Secre-
tary of War.

Letter to Secretary Chase

Executive Mansion, May 8, 1861.

My dear Sir: I am told there is an office in
your department called 'The Superintending
Architect of the Treasury Department, con-
nected with the Bureau of Construction," which
is now held by a man of the name of Young, and
wanted by a gentleman of the name of Christo-
pher Adams.

Ought Mr. Young to be removed, and if yea,
ought Mr. Adams to be appointed? Mr. Adams
is magnificently recommended; but the great
point in his favor is that Thurlow Weed and

i86i] Letter to Chase 269

Horace Greeley join in recommending him. I
suppose the like never happened before, and
never will again; so that it is now or never.
What say you? Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Chase

Executive Mansion, May 9, 1861.
My dear Sir: Mr. James N. Muller wishes
to be supervising inspector of steamboats for the
district of Baltimore. I am somewhat inter-
ested for him, and as the place is in your de-
partment, if you will look into the question of
his qualification for the place, and shall be satis-
fied with him, I will appoint him, — no matter
how soon. Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Chase

Executive Mansion, May 10, 1861.
My dear Sir: I have felt myself obliged to
refuse the post-office at this place to my old
friend Nathan Sargent, which wounds him, and
consequently me, very deeply. He now says
there is an office in your department, called the
"Commissioner of Customs," which the incum-
bent, a Mr. Ingham, wishes to vacate. I will be
much obliged if you agree for me to appoint Mr.
Sargent to this place.

Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.

270 Abraham Lincoln [May to

Unsigned Letter to Governor William
Sprague

Executive Mansion, May lo, 1861.

My dear Sir: I think I had a letter from
you some time ago naming a person whom you
would like to have appointed post-master at
Providence, Rhode Island ; and day before yes-
terday a gentleman urged the name of Thomas
A. Doyle as being the man whom you would
like to have appointed. I write this now to
assure you that while your wishes in this respect
are entitled to and have received the highest
consideration, there is a difficulty such as I have
not surmounted in any other case. It is that a
different man, Walter C. Simmons, is recom-
mended by both the senators and both the old
representatives of the State, and also by one of
the new representatives.

In these cases the executive is obliged to be
greatly dependent upon members of Congress,
and while, under peculiar circumstances, a
single member or two may be occasionally over-
ruled, I believe as strong a combination as the
present never has been.

I therefore beg you to be assured that if I
follow the rule in this case, as it appears to me I
must, it will be with pain, and not with pleasure,
that you are not obliged.

i86i] Florida Habeas Corpus 271
Proclamation Suspending the Writ of

Habeas Corpus IN FLORIDA, May 10, 1861

By the President of the United States of

America :

A Proclamation.

Whereas an insurrection exists in the State of
Florida, by which the lives, liberty, and prop-
erty of loyal citizens of the United States are
endangered:

And whereas it is deemed proper that all need-
ful measures should be taken for the protection
of such citizens and all officers of the United
States in the discharge of their public duties in
the State aforesaid:

Now therefore be it known that I, Abraham
Lincoln, President of the United States, do
hereby direct the commander of the forces of
the United States on the Florida coast to permit
no person to exercise any office or authority
upon the islands of Key West, the Tortugas, and
Santa Rosa, which may be inconsistent with the
laws and Constitution of the United States, au-
thorizing him at the same time, if he shall find
it necessary, to suspend there the writ of habeas
corpus, and to remove from the vicinity of the
United States fortresses all dangerous or sus-
pected persons.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my

rjz Abraham Lincoln [May i6

hand and caused the seal of the United States
to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this

tenth day of May, in the year of our

[l. S.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and

sixty-one, and of the independence of

the United States the eighty-fifth.

Abraham Lincoln.
By the President: William H. Seward,
Secretary of State.

Order to Secretary Welles

Executive Mansion, May ii, 1861.

Sir: Lieutenant D. D. Porter was placed
in command of the steamer Powhatan, and
Captain Samuel Mercer was detached there-
from, by my special order, and neither of them
is responsible for any apparent or real irregu-
larity on their part or in connection with tha
vessel.

Hereafter Captain Porter is relieved from
that special service and placed under the direc-
tion of the Navy Department, from which he
will receive instructions and to which he will
report.

Very respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln.

i86i] Letter to Chase 273

Letter to Secretary Cameron

Executive Mansion, May 13, 1861.

Dear Sir: You see on the other side of this
sheet that four German regiments already raised
in New York wish to form a brigade and have
Carl Schurz for their brigadier-general. Why
should it not be done at once? By the plan of
organization, I see I am to appoint the generals.

Schurz says he would, if allowed, go immedi-
ately to Fortress Monroe; and if it would be an
objection that, by rank, he would command the
garrison there, he would, of choice, waive that.

I am for it, unless there be some valid reason
against it. Answer soon.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to Secretary Chase

Executive Mansion, May 16, 1861.

My dear Sir: I have not at all considered the
qualifications of applicants for appraiserships at
New York. Mr. David Webb seems to under-
stand that he has no opposition for one of the
places. If this is so, or, in any event, if you
wish to appoint him, send me the commission.

Also send me a commission for Mr. George
Dennison as naval officer. This last I shall have
to do, and I may as well do it at once.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

274 Abraham Lincoln [May i8

Letter to Secretary Chase

Executive Mansion, May i8, 1861.

My dear Sir: The suggestions of your note
accompanying the commission for Mr. Dennison
as naval officer at New York have been con-
sidered in the same spirit of kindness in which
I know they were offered. They present the
very difficulty which has embarrassed me from
the first in the case: that Mr. Dennison has not
the position in the public eye which would lead
to the expectation of his receiving so high an
office. I believe I have told you fully what it
was, and is, that pressed me to appoint him: the
urgent solicitation of an old friend who has
served me all my life, and who has never before
received or asked anything in return. His (Mr.
Dennison's) good character was vouched for
from the start by many at New York, including
Mr. Opdyke.

At length, when I was, as it were, in the very

act of appointing him, Mr. made a general

charge of dishonesty against him. I pressed him
for particulars, and it turned out that Mr. Den-
nison in his business as a lawyer had got some
printing done for his clients, becoming person-
ally responsible for the work, and had not paid
for it when dunned. While this, if true, is cer-
tainly not to be commended, I believe the like

i86il Letter to Blair 275

might, in some cases, be proven upon me. They
are a class of debts which our clients ought to
pay, and when we are personally dunned for
them we sometimes hang fire. Besides, Mr.
Dennison went far toward a satisfactory ex-
planation of one case; and while Mr. in-
timated that there were other cases, he did not
specify them.

I consider that the charge of dishonesty has
failed ; and it now seems to me more difficult to
change my purpose than if the charge had never
been made.

Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln.

Letter TO Colonel F. P. Blair

Washington, D. C, May i8, 1861.
My dear Sir: We have a good deal of
anxiety here about St. Louis. I understand an
order has gone from the War Department to
you, to be delivered or withheld in your dis-
cretion, relieving General Harney from his
command. I was not quite satisfied with the
order when it was made, though on the whole I
thought it best to make it; but since then I have
become more doubtful of its propriety. I do
not write now to countermand it, but to say I
wish you would withhold it, unless in your judg-
ment the necessity to the contrary is very urgent.

276 Abraham Lincoln [May 21

There are several reasons for this. We had
better have him a friend than an enemy. It will
dissatisfy a good many who otherwise would be
quiet. More than all, we first relieve him, then
restore him, and now if we relieve him again the
public will ask, ''Why all this vacillation?"
Still, if in your judgment it is indispensable, let
it be so.

Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

i86i] Diplomatic Despatch 277

President Lincoln's Corrections of a Dip-
lomatic Despatch written by the
Secretary of State to Minister Adams,
May 21, 1861^

Department of State,
Washington, May 21, 1861.

SIR: Mr. Dallas, in a brief despatch of
May 2cl (No. 333), tells us that Lord
John Russell recently requested an in-
terview with him on account of the solicitude
which his lordship felt concerning the effect of
certain measures represented as likely to be
adopted by the President. In that conversation
the British secretary told Mr. Dallas that the

* It is quite impossible to reproduce in type the exact form
of the manuscript of the despatch with all its interlineations and
corrections ; but the above shows those made by Mr. Lincoln.
Such additional verbal alterations of Mr. Seward's as merely
corrected ordinary slips of the pen or errors of the copyist are
not noted. When the President returned the manuscript to his
hands, Mr. Seward somewhat changed the form of the despatch
by prefixing to it two short introductory paragraphs in which he
embodied in his own phraseology the President's direction that
the paper was to be merely a confidential instruction, not to be
read or shown to any one, and that he should not in advance
say anything inconsistent with its spirit. This also rendered
unnecessary the President's direction to omit the last two para-
graphs, and accordingly they remained in the despatch as
finally sent.

All words by Mr. Lincoln in notes or in text are in italics,
All matter between brackets was marked out. — N. and H,

278 Abraham Lincoln [May 21

three representatives of the Southern Confeder-
acy were then in London, that Lord John Rus-
sell had not yet seen them, but that he was not
unwilling to see them unofficially. He further
informed Mr. Dallas that an understanding
exists between the British and French govern-
ments which would lead both to take one and
the same course as to recognition. His lordship
then referred to the rumor of a meditated block-
ade by us of Southern ports, and a discontinu-
ance of them as ports of entry. Mr. Dallas
answered that he knew nothing on those topics,
and therefore could say nothing. He added that
you were expected to arrive in two weeks. Upon
this statement Lord John Russell acquiesced in
the expediency of waiting for the full knowl-
edge you were expected to bring.

Mr. Dallas transmitted to us some newspaper
reports of ministerial explanations made in Par-
liament.

You will base no proceedings on parliament-
ary debates further than to seek explanations
when necessary and communicate them to this
department. [We intend to have a clear and
simple record of whatever issue may arise be-
tween us and Great Britain.]^

The President [is surprised and grieved]
regrets that Mr. Dallas did not protest against

^ Leave out.

i86i] Diplomatic Despatch 279

the proposed unofficial intercourse between the
British government and the missionaries of the
insurgents [as well as against the demand for
explanations made by the British government].^
It is due, however, to Mr. Dallas to say that our
instructions had been given only to you and not
to him, and that his loyalty and fidelity, too rare
in these times [among our late representatives
abroad, are confessed and]^, are appreciated.

Intercourse of any kind with the so-called
commissioners is liable to be construed as a
recognition of the authority which appointed
them. Such intercourse would be none the less
[wrongful] hurtful to us for being called un-
official, and it might be even more injurious,
because we should have no means of knowing
what points might be resolved by it. Moreover,
unofficial intercourse is useless and meaningless
if it is not expected to ripen into official inter-
course and direct recognition. It is left doubt-
ful here whether the proposed unofficial inter-
course has yet actually begun. Your own
[present] antecedent instructions are deemed
explicit enough, and it is hoped that you have
not misunderstood them. You will in any event
desist from all intercourse whatever, unofficial

^ Leave out, because it does not appear that such explanations
were demanded.
^ Leave out.

28o Abraham Lincoln [May 21

as well as official, with the British government,
so long as it shall continue intercourse of either
kind with the domestic enemies of this country
[confining yourself to a delivery of a copy of
this paper to the Secretary of State. After doing
this]^ When intercourse shall have been arrested
for this cause, you will communicate with this
department and receive further directions.

Lord John Russell has informed us of an un-
derstanding between the British and French
governments that they will act together in re-
gard to our affairs. This communication, how-
ever, loses something of its value from the cir-
cumstance that the communication was with-
held until after knowledge of the fact had been
acquired by us from other sources. We know
also another fact that has not yet been officially
communicated to us — namely, that other Euro-
pean States are apprised by France and Eng-
land of their agreement, and are expected to
concur with or follow them in whatever
measures they adopt on the subject of recog-
nition. The United States have been impartial
and just in all their conduct toward the several
nations of Europe. They will not complain,
however, of the combination now announced by
the two leading powers, although they think
they had a right to expect a more independent,

^ Leave out.

i86i] Diplomatic Despatch 281

if not a more friendly, course from each of them.
You will take no notice of that or any other al-
liance. Whenever the European governments
shall see fit to communicate directly with us,
we shall be, as heretofore, frank and explicit in
our reply.

As to the blockade, you will say that by [the]
our own laws [of nature] and the laws of nature
and the laws of nations, this government has a
clear right to suppress insurrection. An ex-
clusion of commerce from national ports which
have been seized by the insurgents, in the equit-
able form of blockade, is the proper means to
that end. You will [admit] not insist that our
blockade is [not] to be respected if it be not
maintained by a competent force ; but passing by
that question as not now a practical, or at least an
urgent, one, you will add that [it] the blockade
is now, and it will continue to be so maintained,
and therefore we expect it to be respected by
Great Britain. You will add that we have al-
ready revoked the exequatur of a Russian consul
who had enlisted in the military service of the
insurgents, and we shall dismiss or demand the
recall of every foreign agent, consular or diplo-
matic, who shall either disobey the Federal laws
or disown the Federal authority.

As to the recognition of the so-called Southern
Confederacy, it is not to be made a subject of

282 Abraham Lincoln [May 21

technical definition. It is, of course, [quasil
direct recognition to publish an acknowledg-
ment of the sovereignty and independence of a
new power. It is [quasil direct recognition to
receive its ambassadors, ministers, agents, or
commissioners officially. A concession of bel-
ligerent rights is liable to be construed as a
recognition of them. No one of these proceed-
ings will [be borne] pass [unnoticed] unques-
tioned by the United States in this case.

Hitherto recognition has been moved only on
the assumption that the so-called Confederate
States are de facto a self-sustaining power. Now,
after long forbearance, designed to soothe dis-
content and avert the need of civil war, the land
and naval forces of the United States have been
put in motion to repress the insurrection. The
true character of the pretended new State is
at once revealed. It is seen to be a power exist-
ing in pronunciamento only. It has never won
a field. It has obtained no forts that were not
virtually betrayed into its hands or seized in
breach of trust. It commands not a single port
on the coast nor any highway out from its pre-
tended capital by land. Under these circum-
stances Great Britain is called upon to intervene
and give it body and independence by resisting
our measures of suppression. British recog-
nition would be British intervention to create

i86i] Diplomatic Despatch 283

within our own territory a hostile state by over-
throwing this republic itself. [When this act
of intervention is distinctly performed, we from
that hour shall cease to be friends, and become
once more, as we have twice before been forced
to be, enemies of Great Britain.]^

As to the treatment of privateers in the in-
surgent service, you will say that this is a ques-
tion exclusively our own. We treat them as
pirates. They are our own citizens, or persons
employed by our citizens, preying on the com-
merce of our country. If Great Britain shall
choose to recognize them as lawful belligerents,
and give them shelter from our pursuit and pun-
ishment, the laws of nations afford an adequate
and proper remedy [and we shall avail ourselves
of it. And while you need not say this in ad-
vance, be sure that you say nothing inconsistent
ivith itJ]

Happily, however, her Britannic Majesty's
government can avoid all these difficulties. It
invited us in 1856 to accede to the declaration
of the Congress of Paris, of which body Great
Britain was herself a member, abolishing pri-
vateering everywhere in all cases and forever.
You already have our authority to propose to
her our accession to that declaration. If she re-
fuse to receive it, it can only be because she is

^ Leave out.

284 Abraham Lincoln [May 21

willing to become the patron of privateering
when aimed at our devastation.

These positions are not elaborately defended
now, because to vindicate them would imply a
possibility of our waiving them.

^ We are not insensible of the grave importance
of this occasion. We see how, upon the result
of the debate in which we are engaged, a war
may ensue between the United States and one,
two, or even more European nations. War in
any case is as exceptionable from the habits as
it is revolting from the sentiments of the Ameri-
can people. But if it come, it will be fully seen
that it results from the action of Great Britain,
not our own; that Great Britain will have de-
cided to fraternize with our domestic enemy,
either without waiting to hear from you our
remonstrances and our warnings, or after having
heard them. War in defense of national life is
not immoral, and war in defense of independ-
ence is an inevitable part of the discipline of
nations.

The dispute will be between the European
and the American branches of the British race.
All who belong to that race will especially
deprecate it, as they ought. It may well be be-

'^Drop all from this line to the end, and in lieu of it zvrite,
" This paper is for your own guidance only, and not [sic] to
be read or shown to any one."

i86i] Diplomatic Despatch 285

lieved that men of every race and kindred
will deplore it. A war not unlike it between
the same parties occurred at the close of the
last century. Europe atoned by forty years of
suffering for the error that Great Britain com-
mitted in provoking that contest. If that nation
shall now repeat the same great error, the social
convulsions which will follow may not be so
long, but they will be more general. When
they shall have ceased, it will, we think, be
seen, whatever may have been the fortunes of
other nations, that it is not the United States
that will have come out of them with its precious
Constitution altered or its honestly obtained
dominion in any degree abridged. Great
Britain has but to wait a few months and all her
present inconveniences will cease with all our
own troubles. If she take a different course, she
will calculate for herself the ultimate as well as
the immediate consequences, and will consider
what position she will hold when she shall have
forever lost the sympathies and the affections of
the only nation on whose sympathies and affec-
tions she has a natural claim. In making that
calculation she will do well to remember that in
the controversy she proposes to open we shall be
actuated by neither pride, nor passion, nor
cupidity, nor ambition ; but we shall stand simply
on the principle of self-preservation, and that

286 Abraham Lincoln [May 25

our cause will involve the independence of
nations and the rights of human nature.
I am, sir, respectfully your obedient servant,

W. H. S.

*Letter to J. a. McClernand

Executive Mansion, May 21, 1861.
My dear Sir: I have just had the interview
with Gen. Cameron. He says the six Illinois
Regiments shall be received at once, and prob-
ably sent to Cairo. That he does not know, but
will ascertain, whether heavy guns have gone to
Cairo. That he thinks well of the proposition to
buy the surplus produce on the Ohio ; and that he
wishes to see you, and will admit you whenever
you will send in your card. I wish you to go.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

*Telegram to Governor E. D. Morgan

Washington, May 22, 1861.
Governor E. D. Morgan^ Albany, N. Y.: I
wish to see you face to face to clear these diffi-
culties about forwarding troops from New
York.

A. Lincoln.

i86i] Ellsworth Letter 287

.Letter to Colonel Ellsworth's Parents

Washington, D. C, May 25, 1861.

My dear Sir and Madam: In the untimely
loss of your noble son, our affliction here is
scarcely less than your own. So much of
promised usefulness to one's country, and of
bright hopes for one's self and friends, have
rarely been so suddenly dashed as in his fall. In
size, in years, and in youthful appearance a boy
only, his power to command men was surpass-
ingly great. This power, combined with a fine
intellect, an indomitable energy, and a taste al-
together military, constituted in him, as seemed
to me, the best natural talent in that department
I ever knew.

And yet he was singularly modest and defer-
ential in social intercourse. My acquaintance
with him began less than two years ago; yet
through the latter half of the intervening period
it was as intimate as the disparity of our ages
and my engrossing engagements would permit.
To me he appeared to have no indulgences or
pastimes; and I never heard him utter a pro-
fane or an intemperate word. What was con-
clusive of his good heart, he never forgot his
parents. The honors he labored for so laudably,
and for which in the sad end he so gallantly

288 Abraham Lincoln [May 27

gave his life, he meant for them no less than for
himself.

In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon
the sacredness of your sorrow, I have ventured
to address you this tribute to the memory of
my young friend and your brave and early fallen
child.

May God give you that consolation which is
beyond all earthly power.

Sincerely your friend in a common affliction,

A. Lincoln.

Letter from the Adjutant-General to
General W. S. Harney

Washington, D. C, May 27, 1861.
Sir: The President observes with concern
that, notwithstanding the pledge of the State au-
thorities to cooperate in preserving peace in
Missouri, loyal citizens in great numbers con-
tinue to be driven from their homes. It is im-
material whether these outrages continue from
inability or indisposition on the part of the State
authorities to prevent them. It is enough that
they continue to devolve on you the duty of
putting a stop to them summarily by the force
under your command, to be aided by such troops
as you may require from Kansas, Iowa, and Illi-
nois. The professions of loyalty to the Union
by the State authorities of Missouri are not to

i86i] Despatch to Bartlett 289

be relied upon. They have already falsified
their professions too often, and are too far com-
mitted to secession to be entitled to your con-
fidence, and you can only be sure of their desist-
ing from their wicked purposes when it is out
of their power to prosecute them. You will
therefore be unceasingly watchful of their
movements, and not permit the clamors of their
partizans and opponents of the wise measures
already taken to prevent you from checking
every movement against the government, how-
ever disguised under the pretended State au-
thority. The authority of the United States is
paramount, and whenever it is apparent that a
movement, whether by color of State authority
or not, is hostile, you will not hesitate to put it
down.

I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient
servant,

L. Thomas, Adjutant-General.

*Despatch to Colonel Bartlett

Washington, May 27, 1861.
Col. W. A. Bartlett, New York: The Naval
Brigade was to go to Fort Monroe without
trouble to the Government, and must so go or
not at all.

A. Lincoln.

290 Abraham Lincoln [June 13

Letter to General Scott

(Private.)

Executive Mansion, June 5, 1861.

My dear Sir: Doubtless you begin to un-
derstand how disagreeable it is for me to do
a thing arbitrarily when it is unsatisfactory to
others associated with me.

I very much wish to appoint Colonel Meigs
quartermaster-general, and yet General Cam-
eron does not quite consent. I have come to
know Colonel Meigs quite well for a short ac-
quaintance, and, so far as I am capable of judg-
ing, I do not know one who combines the qual-
ities of masculine intellect, learning, and ex-
perience of the right sort, and physical power of
labor and endurance, so well as he.

I know he has great confidence in you, always
sustaining, so far as I have observed, your opin-
ions against any differing ones.

You will lay me under one more obligation
if you can and will use your influence to re-
move General Cameron's objection. I scarcely
need tell you I have nothing personal in this,
having never seen or heard of Colonel Meigs
until about the end of last March.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

i86i] Letters to Cameron 291

*Letters to Secretary Cameron

Executive Mansion, June 13, 1861.
My dear Sir: There is, it seems, a regiment
in Massachusetts commanded by Fletcher
Webster, and which Hon. Daniel Webster's old
friends very much wish to get into the service.
If it can be received with the approval of your
Department and the consent of the Governor of
Massachusetts I shall indeed be much gratified.
Give Mr. Ashman a chance to explain fully.
Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Executive Mansion, June 13, 1861.

Hon. Secretary of War.

My dear Sir: I think it is entirely safe to
accept a fifth regiment from Michigan, and
with your approbation I should say a regiment
presented by Col. T. B. W. Stockton, ready for
service within two weeks from now, will be
received. Look at Colonel Stockton's testi-
monials. Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Executive Mansion, June 17, 1861.

Hon. Secretary of War.

My dear Sir: With your concurrence, and
that of the Governor of Indiana I am in favor

292 Abraham Lincoln [June 19

of accepting into what we call the three years'
service any number not exceeding four addi-
tional regiments from that State. Probably
they should come from the triangular region
between the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, includ-
ing my own old boyhood home. Please see
Hon. C. M. Allen, Speaker of the Indiana
House of Representatives, and unless you per-
ceive good reasons to the contrary, draw up an
order for him> according to the above.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

Executive Mansion, June 17, 1861.

Hon. Secretary of War.

My dear Sir: With your concurrence, and
that of the Governor of Ohio, I am in favor
of receiving into what we call the three years'
service any number not exceeding six additional
regiments from that State, unless you perceive
good reasons to the contrary. Please see Hon.
John A. Gurley, who bears this, and make an
order corresponding with the above.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

*Letter from O. p. Morton

New York, June 17, 1861.

His Excellency the President.

Dear Sir: The Hon. Robert Dale Owen is
authorized to present for your consideration our

i86i] Letter to Mansfield 293

cavalry regiment being now raised upon the
border. It will be composed of the best ma-
terial both in men and horses. Mr. Owen will
present to you the peculiar claims and con-
dition of the border, differing from the border
of any other State. I trust Your Excellency
may find it consistent with your views and the
public interest to accept of this regiment.

Very respectfully, O. P. MORTON.

lIndorsement.~\

June 22, 1 86 1.

If agreeable to the Secretary of War, I ap-
prove the receiving one of the regiments al-
ready accepted from Indiana, organized and
equipped as a cavalry regiment.

A. Lincoln.

Letter to General J. K. F. Mansfield

Executive Mansion, June 19, 1861.

My dear Sir: The inclosed papers of
Colonel Joseph Hooker speak for themselves
He desires to have the command of a regiment.
Ought he to have it, and can it be done, and
how?

Please consult General Scott, and say if he
and you would like Colonel Hooker to have a
command. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

294 Abraham Lincoln [July 2

Letter to Secretary Cameron

Executive Mansion, June 20, 1861.
My dear Sir: Since you spoke to me yester-
'day about General J. H. Lane, of Kansas, I
have been reflecting upon the subject, and have
concluded that we need the service of such a
man out there at once; that we had better ap-
point him a brigadier-general of volunteers to-
day, and send him off with such authority to
raise a force (I think two regiments better than
three, but as to this I am not particular) as you
think will get him into actual work quickest.
Tell him, when he starts, to put it through —
not to be writing or telegraphing back here, but
put it through.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

[Indorsement.~\

General Lane has been authorized to raise
two additional regiments of volunteers.

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War.

*Letter to Kentucky Delegation

Executive Mansion, June, 29, 1861.
Gentlemen of the Kentucky Delegation who
are for the Union: I somewhat wish to au-
thorize my friend, Jesse Bayles, to raise a Ken-

i86i] Order for General Scott 295

tucky regiment, but I do not wish to do it with-
out your consent. If you consent, please write
so at the bottom of this.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.
We consent.

R. Mallory.
H. Grider.

G. W DUNLAP.

J. S. Jackson.

C. A. WiCKLIFFE.

August 5, 1861.
I repeat, I would like for Col. Bayles to raise
a regiment of cavalry whenever the Union men
of Kentucky desire or consent to it.

A. Lincoln.

Order authorizing General Scott to Sus-
pend THE Writ of Habeas Corpus, July 2,
1861
To THE Commanding General, Army of the

United States.

You are engaged in suppressing an insurrec-
tion against the laws of the United States. If
at any point on or in the vicinity of any military
line which is now or which shall be used be-
tween the city of New York and the city of
Washington you find resistance which renders it
necessary to suspend the writ of habeas corpus

296 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

for the public safety, you personally, or through
the officer in command at the point where re-
sistance occurs, are authorized to suspend that
writ.

Given under my hand and the seal of the
United States at the City of Washington, this
second day of July, A. D. 1861, and of the inde-
pendence of the United States the eighty-fifth.
Abraham Lincoln.

By the President: WILLIAM H. Seward,
Secretary of State.

Letter to Secretary Seward

Executive Mansion, July 3, 1861.
My dear Sir: General Scott had sent me a
copy of the despatch of which you kindly sent
one. Thanks to both him and you. Please as-
semble the cabinet at twelve to-day to look over
the message and reports.

And now, suppose you stop over at once and
let us see General Scott [and] General Cameron
about assigning a position to General Fremont.
Yours as ever^

A. Lincoln.

i86ii Message to Congress 297

Message to Congress in Special Session,
July 4, 1861^

FELLOW-CITIZENS of the Senate and
House of Representatives: Having
been convened on an extraordinary oc-
casion, as authorized by the Constitution, your
attention is not called to any ordinary subject
of legislation.

At the beginning of the present presidential
term, four months ago, the functions of the
Federal Government were found to be gener-
ally suspended within the several States of
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of
the Post-office Department.

Within these States all the forts, arsenals,
dockyards, custom-houses, and the like, includ-
ing the movable and stationary property in and
about them, had been seized, and were held in
open hostility to this government, excepting

^Lincoln's first message to the Thirty-seventh Congress was
somewhat singular for the simple and direct appeal it made to
the people to uphold the Constitution and defend their Govern-
ment. It was received with marked approbation and applause,
particularly that clause proposing a short decisive war, and
measures to raise an army of four hundred thousand men for
its accomplishment.

298 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

only Forts Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson, on
and near the Florida coast, and Fort Sumter,
in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The
forts thus seized had been put in improved con-
dition, new ones had been built, and armed
forces had been organized and were organizing,
all avowedly with the same hostile purpose.

The forts remaining in the possession of the
Federal Government in and near these States
were either besieged or menaced by warlike
preparations, and especially Fort Sumter was
nearly surrounded by well-protected hostile
batteries, with guns equal in quality to the best
of its own, and outnumbering the latter as per-
haps ten to one. A disproportionate share of
the Federal muskets and rifles had somehow
found their way into these States, and had been
seized to be used against the government. Ac-
cumulations of the public revenue lying within
them had been seized for the same object. The
navy was scattered in distant seas, leaving but
a very small part of it within the immediate
reach of the government. Officers of the
Federal army and navy had resigned in great
numbers; and of those resigning a large pro-
portion had taken up arms against the govern-
ment. Simultaneously, and in connection with
all this, the purpose to sever the Federal Union
was openly avowed. In accordance with this

i86i] Message to Congress 299

purpose, an ordinance had been adopted in each
of these States, declaring the States respectively
to be separated from the National Union. A
formula for instituting a combined govern-
ment of these States had been promulgated; and
this illegal organization, in the character of
confederate States, was already invoking recog-
nition, aid, and intervention from foreign
powers.

Finding this condition of things, and believ-
ing it to be an imperative duty upon the incom-
ing executive to prevent, if possible, the con-
summation of such attempt to destroy the
Federal Union, a choice of means to that end
became indispensable. This choice was made
and was declared in the inaugural address. The
policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all
peaceful measures before a resort to any stronger
ones. It sought only to hold the public places
and property not aready wrested from the
government, and to collect the revenue, relying
for the rest on time, discussion, and the ballot-
box. It promised a continuance of the mails,
at government expense, to the very people who
were resisting the government; and it gave re-
peated pledges against any disturbance to any
of the people, or any of their rights. Of all
that which a President might constitutionally
and justifiably do in such a case, everything was

300 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

forborne without which it was believed possible
to keep the government on foot.

On the 5th of March (the present incum-
bent's first full day in office), a letter of Major
Anderson, commanding at Fort Sumter, written
on the 28th of February and received at the
War Department on the 4th of March, was by
that department placed in his hands. This letter
expressed the professional opinion of the writer
that reinforcements could not be thrown into
that fort within the time for his relief, rendered
necessary by the limited supply of provisions,
and with a view of holding possession of the
same, with a force of less than twenty thousand
good and well-disciplined men. This opinion
was concurred in by all the officers of his com-
mand, and their memoranda on the subject were
made inclosures of Major Anderson's letter.
The whole was immediately laid before Lieu-
tenant-General Scott, who at once concurred
with Major Anderson in opinion. On reflec-
tion, however, he took full time, consulting with
other officers, both of the army and the navy,
and at the end of four days came reluctantly
but decidedly to the same conclusion as before.
He also stated at the same time that no such
sufficient force was then at the control of the
government, or could be raised and brought to
the ground within the time when the provisions

i86i] Message to Congress 301

in the fort would be exhausted. In a purely
military point of view, this reduced the duty of
the administration in the case to the mere
matter of getting the garrison safely out of the
fort.

It was believed, however, that to so abandon
that position, under the circumstances, would be
utterly ruinous; that the necessity under which
it was to be done would not be fully under-
stood ; that by many it would be construed as a
part of a voluntary policy ; that at home it would
discourage the friends of the Union, embolden
its adversaries, and go far to insure to the latter
a recognition abroad; that, in fact, it would be
our national destruction consummated. This
could not be allowed. Starvation was not yet
upon the garrison, and ere it would be reached
Fort Pickens might be reinforced. This last
would be a clear indication of policy, and would
better enable the country to accept the evacua-
tion of Fort Sumter as a military necessity. An
order was at once directed to be sent for the
landing of the troops from the steamship
Brooklyn into Fort Pickens. This order could
not go by land, but must take the longer and
slower route by sea. The first return news from
the order was received just one week before the
fall of Fort Sumter. The news itself was that
the officer commanding the Sabine, to which

302 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

vessel the troops had been transferred from the
Brooklyn, acting upon some quasi armistice of
the late administration (and of the existence of
which the present administration, up to the time
the order was despatched, had only too vague
and uncertain rumors to fix attention), had re-
fused to land the troops. To now reinforce Fort
Pickens before a crisis would be reached at Fort
Sumter was impossible — rendered so by the near
exhaustion of provisions in the latter-named
fort. In precaution against such a conjuncture,
the government had, a few days before, com-
menced preparing an expedition as well adapted
as might be to relieve Fort Sumter, which ex-
pedition was intended to be ultimately used, or
not, according to circumstances. The strongest
anticipated case for using it was now presented,
and it was resolved to send it forward. As had
been intended in this contingency, it was also
resolved to notify the governor of South Carolina
that he might expect an attempt would be made
to provision the fort; and that, if the attempt
should not be resisted, there would be no efifort
to throw in men, arms, or ammunition, without
further notice, or in case of an attack upon the
fort. This notice was accordingly given ; where-
upon the fort was attacked and bombarded to
its fall, without even awaiting the arrival of the
provisioning expedition.

i86i] Message to Congress 303

It is thus seen that the assault upon and re-
duction of Fort Sumter was in no sense a matter
of self-defense on the part of the assailants.
They well knew that the garrison in the fort
could by no possibility commit aggression upon
them. They knew — they were expressly noti-
fied— that the giving of bread to the few brave
and hungry men of the garrison was all which
would on that occasion be attempted, unless
themselves, by resisting so much, should pro-
voke more. They knew that this government
desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to
assail them, but merely to maintain visible pos-
session, and thus to preserve the Union from
actual and immediate dissolution — trusting, as
hereinbefore stated, to time, discussion, and the
ballot-box for final adjustment; and they as-
sailed and reduced the fort for precisely the re-
verse object — to drive out the visible authority
of the Federal Union, and thus force it to im-
mediate dissolution. That this was their object
the executive well understood; and having said
to them in the inaugural address, "You can have
no conflict without being yourselves the ag-
gressors," he took pains not only to keep this
declaration good, but also to keep the case so
free from the power of ingenious sophistry that
the world should not be able to misunderstand
it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its sur-

304 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

rounding circumstances, that point was reached.
Then and thereby the assailants of the govern-
ment began the conflict of arms, without a gun
in sight or in expectancy to return their fire,
save only the few in the fort sent to that harbor
years before for their own protection, and still
ready to give that protection in whatever was
lawful. In this act, discarding all else, they
have forced upon the country the distinct issue,
"immediate dissolution or blood."

And this issue embraces more than the fate
of these United States. It presents to the whole
family of man the question whether a consti-
tutional republic or democracy — a government
of the people by the same people — can or can-
not maintain its territorial integrity against its
own domestic foes. It presents the question
whether discontented individuals, too few in
numbers to control administration according to
organic law in any case, can always, upon the
pretenses made in this case, or on any other pre-
tenses, or arbitrarily without any pretense, break
up their government, and thus practically put
an end to free government upon the earth. It
forces us to ask: *'Is there, in all republics, this
inherent and fatal weakness?" "Must a govern-
ment, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties
of its own people, or too weak to maintain its
own existence?"

i86i] Message to Congress 305

So viewing the issue, no choice was left but
to call out the war power of the government;
and so to resist force employed for its destruc-
tion, by force for its preservation.

The call was made, and the response of the
country was most gratifying, surpassing in unan-
imity and spirit the most sanguine expectation.
Yet none of the States commonly called slave
States, except Delaware, gave a regiment
through regular State organization. A few
regiments have been organized within some
others of those States by individual enterprise,
and received into the government service. Of
course the seceded States, so called (and to
v^'hich Texas had been joined about the time of
the inauguration), gave no troops to the cause
of the Union. The border States, so called,
v/ere not uniform in their action, some of them
being almost for the Union, while in others —
as Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and
Arkansas — the Union sentiment was nearly re-
pressed and silenced. The course taken in Vir-
ginia was the most remarkable — perhaps the
most important. A convention elected by the
people of that State to consider this very ques-
tion of disrupting the Federal Union was in ses-
sion at the capital of Virginia when Fort Sum-
ter fell. To this body the people had chosen
a large majority of professed Union men. Al-

3o6 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

most immediately after the fall of Sumter, many
members of that majority went over to the orig-
inal disunion minority, and with them adopted
an ordinance for withdrawing the State from the
Union. Whether this change was wrought by
their great approval of the assault upon Sumter,
or their great resentment at the government's
resistance to that assault, is not definitely known.
Although they submitted the ordinance for
ratification to a vote of the people, to be taken
on a day then somewhat more than a month dis-
tant, the convention and the legislature (which
was also in session at the same time and place),
with leading men of the State not members of
either, immediately commenced acting as if the
State were already out of the Union. They
pushed military preparations vigorously for-
ward all over the State. They seized the United
States armory at Harper's Ferry, and the navy-
yard at Gosport, near Norfolk. They received
— perhaps invited — into their State large bodies
of troops, with their war-like appointments,
from the so-called seceded States. They form-
ally entered into a treaty of temporary alliance
and cooperation with the so-called "Confeder-
ate States," and sent members to their congress
at Montgomery. And, finally, they permitted
the insurrectionary government to be transferred
to their capital at Richmond.

i86i] Message to Congress 307

The people of Virginia have thus allowed this
giant insurrection to make its nest within her
borders; and this government has no choice left
but to deal with it where it finds it. And it
has the less regret as the loyal citizens have, in
due form, claimed its protection. Those loyal
citizens this government is bound to recognize
and protect, as being Virginia.

In the border States, so called, — in fact, the
Middle States, — there are those who favor a
policy which they call "armed neutrality"; that
is, an arming of those States to prevent the
Union forces passing one way, or the disunion
the other, over their soil. This would be dis-
union completed. Figuratively speaking, it
would be the building of an impassable wall
along the line of separation — and yet not quite
an impassable one, for under the guise of neu-
trality it would tie the hands of Union men and
freely pass supplies from among them to the in-
surrectionists, which it could not do as an open
enemy. At a stroke it would take all the trouble
ofif the hands of secession, except only what pro-
ceeds from the external blockade. It would do
for the disunionists that which, of all things,
they most desire — feed them well, and give them
disunion without a struggle of their own. It
recognizes no fidelity to the Constitution, no
obligation to maintain the Union; and while

3o8 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

very many who have favored it are doubtless
loyal citizens, it is, nevertheless, very injurious
in effect.

Recurring to the action of the government, it
may be stated that at first a call was made for
75,000 militia; and, rapidly following this, a
proclamation was issued for closing the ports
of the insurrectionary districts by proceedings
in the nature of blockade. So far all was be-
lieved to be strictly legal. At this point the
insurrectionists announced their purpose to en-
ter upon the practice of privateering.

Other calls were made for volunteers to serve
for three years, unless sooner discharged, and
also for large additions to the regular army and
navy. These measures, whether strictly legal or
not, were ventured upon, under what appeared
to be a popular demand and a public necessity;
trusting then, as now, that Congress would read-
ily ratify them. It is believed that nothing has
been done beyond the constitutional competency
of Congress.

Soon after the first call for militia, it was con-
sidered a duty to authorize the commanding
general in proper cases, according to his discre-
tion, to suspend the privilege of the writ of
habeas corpus, or, in other words, to arrest and
detain, without resort to the ordinary processes
and forms of law, such individuals as he might

i86i] Message to Congress 309

deem dangerous to the public safety. This au-
thority has purposely been exercised but very
sparingly. Nevertheless, the legality and pro-
priety of what has been done under it are ques-
tioned, and the attention of the country has been
called to the proposition that one who has sworn
to "take care that the laws be faithfully exe-
cuted" should not himself violate them. Of
course some consideration was given to the ques-
tions of power and propriety before this matter
was acted upon. The whole of the laws which
were required to be faithfully executed were
being resisted and failing of execution in nearly
one third of the States. Must they be allowed
to finally fail of execution, even had it been
perfectly clear that by the use of the means
necessary to their execution some single law,
made in such extreme tenderness of the citizen's
liberty that, practically, it relieves more of the
guilty than of the innocent, should to a very
limited extent be violated? To state the ques-
tion more directly, are all the laws but one to
go unexecuted, and the government itself go to
pieces lest that one be violated? Even in such
a case, would not the official oath be broken if
the government should be overthrown, when it
was believed that disregarding the single law
would tend to preserve it? But it was not be-
lieved that this question was presented. It was

3IO Abraham Lincoln tJuiy 4

not believed that any law was violated. The
provision of the Constitution that "the privilege
of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus-
pended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or in-
vasion, the public safety may require it," is
equivalent to a provision — is a provision — that
such privilege may be suspended when, in case
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does
require it. It was decided that we have a case
of rebellion, and that the public safety does re-
quire the qualified suspension of the privilege
of the writ which was authorized to be made.
Now it is insisted that Congress, and not the
executive, is vested with this power. But the
Constitution itself is silent as to which or who
is to exercise the power; and as the provision
was plainly made for a dangerous emergency,
it cannot be believed the framers of the instru-
ment intended that in every case the danger
should run its course until Congress could be
called together, the very assembling of which
might be prevented, as was intended in this case,
by the rebellion.

No more extended argument is now ofifered,
as an opinion at some length will probably be
presented by the attorney-general. Whether
there shall be any legislation upon the subject,
and if any, what, is submitted entirely to the
better judgment of Congress.

i86i] Message to Congress 311

The forbearance of this government had been
so extraordinary and so long continued as to
lead some foreign nations to shape their action
as if they supposed the early destruction of our
National Union was probable. While this, on
discovery, gave the executive some concern, he
is now happy to say that the sovereignty and
rights of the United States are now everywhere
practically respected by foreign powers; and a
general sympathy with the country is manifested
throughout the world.

The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury,
War, and the Navy will give the information in
detail deemed necessary and convenient for your
deliberation and action ; while the executive and
all the departments will stand ready to supply
omissions, or to communicate new facts con-
sidered important for you to know.

It is now recommended that you give the legal
means for making this contest a short and de-
cisive one: that you place at the control of the
government for the work at least four hundred
thousand men and $400,000,000. That number
of men is about one tenth of those of proper
ages within the regions where, apparently, all
are willing to engage; and the sum is less than
a tsventy-third part of the money value owned
by the men who seem ready to devote the whole.
A debt of $600,000,000 now is a less sum per

312 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

head than was the debt of our Revolution when
we came out of that struggle; and the money
value in the country now bears even a greater
proportion to what it was then than does the
population. Surely each man has as strong a
motive now to preserve our liberties as each had
then to establish them.

A right result at this time will be worth more
to the world than ten times the men and ten
times the money. The evidence reaching us
from the country leaves no doubt that the mate-
rial for the work is abundant, and that it needs
only the hand of legislation to give it legal sanc-
tion, and the hand of the executive to give it
practical shape and efficiency. One of the
greatest perplexities of the government is to
avoid receiving troops faster than it can pro-
vide for them. In a word, the people will save
their government if the government itself will
do its part only indifferently well.

It might seem, at first thought, to be of little
difference whether the present movement at the
South be called "secession" or "rebellion." The
movers, however, well understand the differ-
ence. At the beginning they knew they could
never raise their treason to any respectable mag-
nitude by any name which implies violation of
law. They knew their people possessed as much
of moral sense, as much of devotion to law

i86i] Message to Congress 3^3

and order, and as much pride in and rever-
ence for the history and government of their
common country as any other civilized and
patriotic people. They knew they could
make no advancement directly in the teeth
of these strong and noble sentiments. Accord-
ingly, they commenced by an insidious debauch-
ing of the public mind. They invented an in-
genious sophism v^hich, if conceded, was fol-
lowed by perfectly logical steps, through all the
incidents, to the complete destruction of the
Union. The sophism itself is that any State of
the Union may consistently with the National
Constitution, and therefore lawfully and peace-
fully, withdraw from the Union without the
consent of the Union or of any other State. The
little disguise that the supposed right is to be
exercised only for just cause, themselves to be
the sole judges of its justice, is too thin to merit
any notice.

With rebellion thus sugar-coated they have
been drugging the public mind of their section
for more than thirty years, and until at length
they have brought many good men to a willing-
ness to take up arms against the government the
day after some assemblage of men have enacted
the farcical pretense of taking their State out of
the Union, who could have been brought to no
such thing the day before.

314 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

This sophism derives much, perhaps the
whole, of its currency from the assumption that
there is some omnipotent and sacred supremacy
pertaining to a State — to each State of our Fed-
eral Union. Our States have neither more nor
less power than that reserved to them in the
Union by the Constitution — no one of them ever
having been a State out of the Union. The or-
iginal ones passed into the Union even before
they cast off their British colonial dependence;
and the new ones each came into the Union
directly from a condition of dependence, except-
ing Texas. And even Texas, in its temporary
independence, was never designated a State.
The new ones only took the designation of States
on coming into the Union, while that name was
first adopted for the old ones in and by the
Declaration of Independence. Therein the
"United Colonies" were declared to be "free and
independent States"; but even then the object
plainly was not to declare their independence of
one another or of the Union, but directly the
contrary, as their mutual pledge and their mut-
ual action before, at the time, and afterward,
abundantly show. The express plighting of
faith by each and all of the original thirteen in
the Articles of Confederation, two years later,
that the Union shall be perpetual, is most con-
clusive. Having never been States either in

i86i] Message to Congress 315

substance or in name outside of the Union,
whence this magical omnipotence of ''State
Rights," asserting a claim of power to lawfully
destroy the Union itself? Much is said about
the "sovereignty" of the States; but the word
even is not in the National Constitution, nor,
as is believed, in any of the State constitutions.
What is "sovereignty" in the political sense of
the term? Would it be far wrong to define it
"a political community without a political su-
perior"? Tested by this, no one of our States
except Texas ever was a sovereignty. And even
Texas gave up the character on coming into the
Union ; by which act she acknowledged the Con-
stitution of the United States, and the laws and
treaties of the United States made in pursuance
of the Constitution, to be for her the supreme
law of the land. The States have their status in
the Union, and they have no other legal status.
If they break from this, they can only do so
against law and by revolution. The Union,
and not themselves separately, procured their
independence and their liberty. By conquest or
purchase the Union gave each of them whatever
of independence or liberty It has. The Union is
older than any of the States, and, in fact, it
created them as States. Originally some de-
pendent colonies made the Union, and, in turn,
the Union threw ofif their old dependence for

3i6 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

them, and made them States, such as they are.
Not one of them ever had a State constitution
independent of the Union. Of course, it is not
forgotten that all the new States framed their
constitutions before they entered the Union —
nevertheless, dependent upon and preparatory to
coming into the Union.

Unquestionably the States have the powers
and rights reserved to them in and by the Na-
tional Constitution; but among these surely are
not included all conceivable powers, however
mischievous or destructive, but, at most, such
only as were known in the world at the time as
governmental powers; and certainly a power to
destroy the government itself had never been
known as a governmental, as a merely adminis-
trative power. This relative matter of national
power and State rights, as a principle, is no other
than the principle of generality and locality.
Whatever concerns the whole should be confided
to the whole — to the General Government;
while whatever concerns only the State should
be left exclusively to the State. This is all there
is of original principle about it. Whether the
National Constitution in defining boundaries
between the two has applied the principle with
exact accuracy, is not to be questioned. We are
all bound by that defining, without question.

What is now combated is the position that se-

i86i] Message to Congress 317

cession is consistent with the Constitution — is
lawful and peaceful. It is not contended that
there is any express law for it; and nothing
should ever be implied as law which leads to
unjust or absurd consequences. The nation pur-
chased with money the countries out of which
several of these States were formed. Is it just
that they shall go off without leave and without
refunding? The nation paid very large sums
(in the aggregate, I believe, nearly a hundred
millions) to relieve Florida of the aboriginal
tribes. Is it just that she shall now be off with-
out consent or without making any return? The
nation is now in debt for money applied to the
benefit of these so-called seceding States in com-
mon with the rest. Is it just either that creditors
shall go unpaid or the remaining States pay the
whole? A part of the present national debt
was contracted to pay the old debts of Texas.
Is it just that she shall leave and pay no part of
this herself?

Again, if one State may secede, so may an-
other; and when all shall have seceded, none is
left to pay the debts. Is this quite just to credi-
tors? Did we notify them of this sage view of
ours when we borrowed their money?

If we now recognize this doctrine by allowing
the seceders to go in peace, it is difficult to see
what we can do if others choose to go or to ex-

3i8 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

tort terms upon which they will promise to re-
main.

The seceders insist that our Constitution ad-
mits of secession. They have assumed to make
a national constitution of their own, in which
of necessity they have either discarded or re-
tained the right of secession as they insist it
exists in ours. If they have discarded it, they
thereby admit that on principle it ought not to
be in ours. If they have retained it by their
own construction of ours, they show that to be
consistent they must secede from one another
whenever they shall find it the easiest way of
settling their debts, or effecting any other selfish
or unjust object. The principle itself is one of
disintegration, and upon which no government
can possibly endure.

If all the States save one should assert the
power to drive that one out of the Union, it is
presumed the whole class of seceder politicians
would at once deny the power and denounce
the act as the greatest outrage upon State rights.
But suppose that precisely the same act, instead
of being called "driving the one out," should
be called "the seceding of the others from that
one," it would be exactly what the seceders claim
to do, unless, indeed, they make the point that
the one, because it is a minority, may rightfully
do what the others, because they are a majority,

i86i] Message to Congress 319

may not rightfully do. These politicians are
subtle and profound on the rights of minori-
ties. They are not partial to that power which
made the Constitution and speaks from the pre-
amble called itself "We, the People."

It may well be questioned whether there is
to-day a majority of the legally qualified voters
of any State, except perhaps South Carolina, in
favor of disunion. There is much reason to
believe that the Union men are the majority in
many, if not in every other one, of the so-called
seceded States. The contrary has not been dem-
onstrated in any one of them. It is ventured
to affirm this even of Virginia and Tennessee;
for the result of an election held in military
camps, where the bayonets are all on one side
of the question voted upon, can scarcely be con-
sidered as demonstrating popular sentiment.
At such an election, all that large class who are
at once for the Union and against coercion
would be coerced to vote against the Union.

It may be affirmed without extravagance that
the free institutions we enjoy have developed
the powers and improved the condition of our
whole people beyond any example in the world.
Of this we now have a striking and an impres-
sive illustration. So large an army as the gov-
ernment has now on foot was never before known,
without a soldier in it but who has taken his

320 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

place there of his own free choice. But more
than this, there are many single regiments whose
members, one and another, possess full practical
knowledge of all the arts, sciences, professions,
and whatever else, whether useful or elegant, is
known in the world; and there is scarcely one
from which there could not be selected a Presi-
dent, a cabinet, a congress, and perhaps a court,
abundantly competent to administer the govern-
ment itself. Nor do I say this is not true also
in the army of our late friends, now adversaries
in this contest; but if it is, so much better the
reason why the government which has conferred
such benefits on both them and us should not be
broken up. Whoever in any section proposes
to abandon such a government would do well to
consider in deference to what principle it is that
he does it — what better he is likely to get in its
stead — whether the substitute will give, or be
intended to give, so much of good to the people?
There are some foreshadowings on this subject.
Our adversaries have adopted some declarations
of independence in which, unlike the good old
one, penned by Jefferson, they omit the words
*'all men are created equal." Why? They
have adopted a temporary national constitution,
in the preamble of which, unlike our good old
one, signed by Washington, they omit "We, the
People," and substitute, "We, the deputies of

i86i] Message to Congress 321

the sovereign and independent States." Why?
Why this deliberate pressing out of view the
rights of men and the authority of the people?

This is essentially a people's contest. On the
side of the Union it is a struggle for maintaining
in the world that form and substance of govern-
ment whose leading object is to elevate the con-
dition of men — to lift artificial weights from all
shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit
for all; to afford all an unfettered start, and a
fair chance in the race of life. Yielding to par-
tial and temporary departures, from necessity,
this is the leading object of the government for
whose existence we contend.

I am most happy to believe that the plain peo-
ple understand and appreciate this. It is
worthy of note that while in this, the govern-
ment's hour of trial, large numbers of those in
the army and navy who have been favored with
the officers have resigned and proved false to the
hand which had pampered them, not one com-
mon soldier or common sailor is known to have
deserted his flag.

Great honor is due to those officers who re-
mained true, despite the example of their treach-
erous associates ; but the greatest honor, and
most important fact of all, is the unamimous
firmness of the common soldiers and common
sailors. To the last man, so far as known, they

322 Abraham Lincoln [July 4

have successfully resisted the traitorous efforts
of those whose commands, but an hour before,
they obeyed as absolute law. This is the pat-
riotic instinct of the plain people. They under-
stand, without an argument, that the destroying
of the government which was made by Washing-
ton means no good to them.

Our popular government has often been called
an experiment. Two points in it our people
have already settled — the successful establishing
and the successful administering of it. One
still remains — its successful maintenance against
a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it.
It is now for them to demonstrate to the world
that those who can fairly carry an election can
also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are the
rightful and peaceful successors of bullets; and
that when ballots have fairly and constitutional-
ly decided, there can be no successful appeal
back to bullets ; that there can be no successful
appeal, except to ballots themselves, at succeed-
ing elections. Such will be a great lesson of
peace : teaching men that what they cannot take
by an election, neither can they take it by a
war; teaching all the folly of being the begin-
ners of a war.

Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of
candid men as to what is to be the course of the
government toward the Southern States after

i86i] Message to Congress 323

the rebellion shall have been suppressed, the
executive deems it proper to say it will be his
purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the Con-
stitution and the laws; and that he probably
will have no different understanding of the
powers and duties of the Federal Government
relatively to the rights of the States and the peo-
ple, under the Constitution, than that expressed
in the inaugural address.

He desires to preserve the government, that
it may be administered for all as it was admin-
istered by the men who made it. Loyal citizens
everywhere have the right to claim this of their
government, and the government has no right
to withhold or neglect it. It is not perceived
that in giving it there is any coercion, any con-
quest, or any subjugation, in any just sense of
those terms.

The Constitution provides, and all the States
have accepted the provision, that "the United
States shall guarantee to every State in this
Union a republican form of government." But
if a State may lawfully go out of the Union, hav-
ing done so, it may also discard the republican
form of government; so that to prevent its going
out is an indispensable means to the end of main-
taining the guarantee mentioned; and when an
end is lawful and obligatory, the indispensable
means to it are also lawful and obligatory.

324 Abraham Lincoln [July lo

It was with the deepest regret that the execu-
tive found the duty of employing the war power
in defense of the government forced upon him.
He could but perform this duty or surrender the
existence of the government. No compromise
by public servants could, in this case, be a cure;
not that compromises are not often proper, but
that no popular government can long survive
a marked precedent that those who carry an elec-
tion can only save the government from imme-
diate destruction by giving up the main point
upon which the people gave the election. The
people themselves, and not their servants, can
safely reverse their own deliberate decisions.

As a private citizen the executive could not
have consented that these institutions shall per-
ish; much less could he, in betrayal of so vast
and so sacred a trust as the free people have con-
fided to him. He felt that he had no moral
right to shrink, nor even to count the chances
of his own life in what might follow. In full
view of his great responsibility he has, so far,
done what he has deemed his duty. You will
now, according to your own judgment, perform
yours.

He sincerely hopes that your views and your
actions may so accord with his, as to assure all
faithful citizens who have been disturbed in
their rights of a certain and speedy restoration

i86i] Memorandum to Buckner 325

to them, under the Constitution and the laws.
And having thus chosen our course, without
guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our
trust in God, and go forward without fear and
with manly hearts.

Abraham Lincoln.

*Letter to Secretary Smith

Executive Mansion, July 6, 1861.
My dear Sir: Please ask the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, and of the General Land
Office to come with you, and see me at once. I
want the assistance of all of you in overhauling
the list of appointments a little before I send
them to the Senate.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Memorandum to General S. B. Buckner,
July 10, 1861

It is my duty, as I conceive, to suppress an
insurrection existing within the United States.
I wish to do this with the least possible dis-
turbance or annoyance to well-disposed people
anywhere. So far I have not sent an armed
force into Kentucky, nor have I any present
purpose to do so. I sincerely desire that no
necessity for it may be presented; but I mean
to say nothing which shall hereafter embarrass

326 Abraham Lincoln [July 15

me in the performance of what may seem to
be my duty.

(Copy of this delivered to General Buckner,
this loth day of July, 1861.)

Message to the House of Representatives,
July II, 1861

To the House of Representatives: In answer
to the resolution of the House of Representatives
of the 9th instant, requesting a copy of corres-
pondence upon the subject of the incorporation
of the Dominican republic with the Spanish
monarchy, I transmit a report from the Secre-
tary of State, to whom the resolution was
referred.

i86i] Vienna Memorandum 327

Memorandum about the Defeat at Vienna,
Va., July 15, 1861

A DAY or two before the disaster at Vi-
enna General Tyler had, by orders,
with a force gone on the same road
three miles beyond that point, and returned past
it, seeing neither battery nor troops — of which
General Schenck had been notified. The morn-
ing of the disaster General Schenck received the
order under which he acted, which is in words
and figures following:

Headquarters Department, N. E. Virginia,

Arlington, June 17, 1861.
Brigadier-General Schenck, Commanding Ohio
Brigade.

Sir: The general commanding directs that you
send one of the regiments of your command on a
train of cars up the Loudon and Hampshire Rail-
road to the point where it crosses the wagon-road
running from Fort Corcoran (opposite Georgetown)
southerly into Virginia.

The regiment, being established at that point, will
by suitable patrols feel the way along the road to
Falls Church and Vienna, moving, however, with
caution, and making it a special duty to guard ef-
fectually the railroad bridges and look to the track.

328 Abraham Lincoln [July 16

The regiment will go supplied for a tour of duty
of twenty-four hours, and will move on the arrival
at your camp of a train of cars ordered for that pur-
pose, and will relieve all the troops of Colonel Hun-
ter's brigade now guarding the hne.

I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant,
James B. Fry, A. A. G.

As appears by the order, General Schenck
was not ordered to go himself, but merely to
send a regiment; and he went himself because
the colonels of both his regiments happened to
be absent; but he took Colonel McCook's regi-
ment, and Colonel McCook overtook and joined
him before the disaster occurred ; and to whom
(he being a regularly educated military man)
the order v^^as at once shown, and General
Schenck did nothing afterward but upon his full
concurrence. It is not true, as has been stated,
that any notice was given General Schenck of
a battery being at Vienna. It is true that a
countryman told General Schenck he had heard
there were troops at Vienna. He was asked if
he had seen them, and he said not; he was asked
if he had seen any one who had seen them, and
he said not; but he had seen a man who had
heard there were troops there. This was heard
by Colonel McCook as well as General Schenck;
and on consultation they agreed that it was but
a vague rumor.

i86i] Message to Congress 329

It is a fact that not an officer or private who
was present at the disaster has ever cast a word
of blame upon either General Schenck or Col-
onel McCook; but, on the contrary, they are all
anxious to have another trial under the same
officers.

Message to COxNgress, July 16, 1861

To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit to Congress a copy of correspondence
between the Secretary of State and her Britannic
Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary accredited to this government,
relative to the exhibition of the products of in-
dustry of all nations, which is to take place at
London in the course of the next year. As
citizens of the United States may justly pride
themselves upon their proficiency in industrial
arts, it is desirable that they should have proper
facilities toward taking part in the exhibition.
With this view I recommend such legislation by
Congress at this session as may be necessary for
that purpose.

Abraham Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Chase

(Private.)
Executive Mansion, July i8, i86l.
My dear Sir: I can scarcely avoid an "un-

330. Abraham Lincoln [July 23

pleasantness," not to say a difBculty, or rupture,
respectively with Mr. Senator King and Mr.
Speaker Grow, unless I can find a place for
each a man. Mr. Grow, knowing I have Mr.
King on hand, as well as himself, was here this
morning, insisting that the second and fifth au-
thorships are still open, and that I might give
them to Mr. King's man and to his. Is the
fact so? Are those places open? If they are,
you would both oblige and relieve me by letting
them go as indicated. Grow's man is Joseph
E. Streeter, really of Illinois (no acquaintance
of mine), but, as Grow says, to be charged to

Pennsylvania. King's man is Smith, of

Minnesota. I neither know him nor remember
his Christian name as given by Mr. King.
Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN.

*Letter to Secretary Seward

Executive Mansion, July 19, 1861.
My dear Sir: I wish to see you a moment
this morning on a matter of no great moment.
Will you please call? Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Message to Congress, July 19, 1861

To the Senate and House of Representatives:
As the United States have, in common with
Great Britain and France, a deep interest in the

i86i] Military Memorandum 331

preservation and development of the fisheries
adjacent to the northeastern coast and islands of
this continent, it seems proper that we should
concert with the governments of those countries
such measures as may be conducive to those im-
portant objects. With this view I transmit to
Congress a copy of a correspondence between
the Secretary of State and the British minister
here, in which the latter proposes, on behalf of
his government, the appointment of a joint com-
mission to inquire into the matter, in order that
such ulterior measures may be adopted as may
be advisable for the objects proposed. Such
legislation is recommended as may be necessary
to enable the executive to provide for a commis-
sioner on behalf of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln.

Memoranda of Military Policy Suggested

BY THE Bull Run Defeat, July 23, 1861

(July 23, 1861.)

1. Let the plan for making the blockade ef-
fective be pushed forward with all possible de-
spatch.

2. Let the volunteer forces at Fort Monroe
and vicinity under General Butler be constantly
drilled, disciplined, and instructed without more
for the present.

332 Abraham Lincoln [July 24

3. Let Baltimore be held as now, with a gentle
but firm and certain hand.

4. Let the force now under Patterson or
Banks be strengthened and made secure in its
position.

5. Let the forces in Western Virginia act till
further orders according to instructions or or-
ders from General McClellan.

6. [Let] General Fremont push forward his
organization and operations in the West as
rapidly as possible, giving rather special atten-
tion to Missouri.

7. Let the forces late before Manassas, except
the three-months men, be reorganized as rapidly
as possible in their camps here and about
Arlington.

8. Let the three-months forces who decline to
enter the longer service be discharged as rapidly
as circumstances will permit.

9. Let the new volunteer forces be brought
forward as fast as possible, and especially into
the camps on the two sides of the river here.

(July27, 1861.)

When the foregoing shall have been substan-
tially attended to:

I. Let Manassas Junction (or some point on
one or other of the railroads near it) and Stras-
burg be seized and permanently held, with an

i86i] "Yq Governor of New Jersey 333

open line from Washington to Manassas, and
an open line from Harper's Ferry to Strasburg
— the military men to find the way of doing
these.

2. This done, a joint movement from Cairo
on Memphis, and from Cincinnati on East
Tennessee.

*Order to the Governor of New Jersey.

Washington, D. C, July 24, 1861.

Sir: Together with the regiments of three
years' volunteers which the Government already
has in service in your State, enough to make
eight in all, if tendered in a reasonable time,
will be accepted, the new regiments to be taken
as far as convenient, from the three months' men
and officers just discharged, and to be organized,
equipped, and sent forward as fast as single reg-
iments are ready, on the same terms as were
those already in the service from that State.

Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

\^Inciorsement.'\
This order is entered in the War Department,
and the Governor of New Jersey is authorized
to furnish the regiments with wagons and horses.
S. Cameron, Secretary of War.

334 Abraham Lincoln [juiy 30

Message to the House of Representatives,
July 25, 1861
To the House of Representatives: In answer
to the resolution of the House of Repre-
sentatives of the 15th instant requesting a copy
of the correspondence between this government
and foreign powers on the subject of the exist-
ing insurrection in the United States, I transmit
a report from the Secretary of State.

Abraham Lincoln.

Message to the House of Representatives,
July 25, 1861

To the House of Representatives: In answer
to the resolution of the House of Repre-
sentatives of the 22d instant requesting a copy
of the correspondence betvv^een this government
and foreign powers with reference to maritime
rights, I transmit a copy from the Secretary of
State.

Abraham Lincoln.

Message to the Senate, July 27, 1861
To the Senate: In answer to the resolution of
the Senate of the 25th instant relative to the in-
structions to the ministers of the United States
abroad, in reference to the rebellion now exist-

i86i] Message to Senate 335

ing in the southern portion of the Union, I
transmit a report from the Secretary of State.
Abraham Lincoln.

Message to the House of Representatives,
July 27, 1861
To the House of Representatives: In answer
to the resolution of the House of Repre-
sentatives of the 24th instant asking the grounds,
reason, and evidence upon which the police
commissioners of Baltimore were arrested
and are now detained as prisoners at Fort Mc-
Henry, I have to state that it is judged to be
incompatible with the public interest at this
time to furnish the information called for by
the resolution. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Message to the Senate, July 30, 1861

To the Senate of the United States: In answer
to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant
requesting information concerning the quasi
armistice alluded to in my message of the 4th
instant, I transmit a report from the Secretary
of the Navy. Abraham Lincoln.

Message to the Senate, July 30, 1861

To the Senate of the United States: In answer
to the resolution of the Senate of the 23d instant
requesting information concerning the impris-

33^ Abraham Lincoln [Aug. i

onment of Lieutenant John J. Worden [John
L. Worden] of the United States navy, I trans-
mit a report from the Secretary of the Navy.
Abraham Lincoln.

Reply to the Tycoon of Japan,

August I, 1 86 1

A. Lincoln, President of the United States

of America:
To His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan.

Great and good Friend: I have received the
letter which you have addressed to me on the
subject of a desired extension of the time stipu-
lated by treaty for the opening of certain ports
and cities in Japan. The question is surrounded
with many difficulties. While it is my earnest
desire to consult the convenience of your Majes-
ty, and to accede, so far as I can, to your reason-
able wishes, so kindly expressed, the interests of
the United States must, nevertheless, have due
consideration. Townsend Harris, minister resi-
dent near your Majesty,will be fully instructed as
to the views of this government, and will make
them known to you at large. I do not permit
myself to doubt that these views will meet with
your Majesty's approval, for they proceed not
less from a just regard for the interest and pros-
perity of your empire than from considerations
affecting our own welfare and honor.

i86i] Letter to Cameron 337

Wishing abundant prosperity and length of
years to the great state over which you preside,
I pray God to have your Majesty always in his
safe and holy keeping.

Written at the city of Washington, this ist
day of August, 1861. Your good friend,

A. Lincoln.
By the President: WILLIAM H. Seward,
Secretary of State.

Letter to Secretary Cameron

Executive Mansion, August i, 1861.
My dear Sir: Herewith I inclose you a reso-
lution of the Senate inquiring whether Hon.
James H. Lane, of Kansas, has been appointed
a general in the army of the United States ; and
if yea, whether he has accepted the appointment.
Will you please furnish me, as soon as possible,
copies of all record entries and correspondence
upon the subject which are in your department,
together with a brief statement of your personal
knowledge of whatever may contribute to a full
and fair statement of the case.

Yours truly, A. Lincoln.

Message to the House of Representatives,
August 2, 1 861
To the House of Representatives: In answer
to the resolution of the House of Representatives

33^ Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 7

of yesterday, requesting information regarding
the imprisonment of loyal citizens of the United
States by the forces now in rebellion against this
government, I transmit a report from the Sec-
retary of State, and the copy of a telegraphic
despatch by which it was accompanied.

Abraham Lincoln.

Letter from Secretary Cameron to the
Governor of Missouri

War Department, Washington, August 3, 1861.

His Excellency H. R. Gamble: In reply to
your message directed to the President, I am
directed to say that if by proclamation you
promise security to citizens in arms who volun-
tarily return to their allegiance and become
peaceable and loyal, this government will cause
the promise to be respected.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
Simon Cameron, Secretary of War.

Message to the Senate, August 5, 1861
To the Senate of the United States: In answer
to the resolution of your honorable body of date
July 31, 1861, requesting the President to inform
the Senate whether the Hon. James H. Lane, a
member of that body from Kansas, has been ap-
pointed a brigadier-general in the army of the
United States, and if so, whether he has accepted

i86i] Letter to Cameron 339

such appointment, I have the honor to transmit
herewith certain papers, numbered i, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, and 7, which, taken together, explain them-
selves, and which contain all the information I
possess upon the questions propounded.

It was my intention, as shown by my letter of
June 20, 1861, to appoint Hon. James H. Lane,
of Kansas, a brigadier-general of United States
volunteers in anticipation of the Act of Con-
gress, since passed, for raising such volunteers;
and I have no further knowledge upon the sub-
ject, except as derived from the papers herewith
inclosed. ABRAHAM Lincoln.

Telegram from the President's Private
Secretary to General Fremont

Washington, August 5, 1861.
To Major-General Fremont: The President
desires to know briefly the situation of affairs in
the region of Cairo. Please answer.

Jno. G. Nicolay, Private Secretary.

Letter to Secretary Cameron

Executive Mansion, August 7, 1861.
My dear Sir: The within paper, as you see,
is by Hon. John S. Phelps and Hon. Frank P.
Blair, Jr., both members of the present Con-
gress from Missouri. The object is to get up an
efficient force of Missourians in the southwest-

340 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 12

ern part of the State. It ought to be done, and
Mr. Phelps ought to have general superinten-
dence of it. I see by a private report to me from
the department that eighteen regiments are al-
ready accepted from Missouri. Can it not be
arranged that part of them (not yet organized,
as I understand) may be taken from the locality
mentioned and put under the control of Mr.
Phelps, and let him have discretion to accept
them for a shorter term than three years or the
w^ar — understanding, however, that he will get
them for the full term if he can? I hope this
can be done, because Mr. Phelps is too zealous
and efficient and understands his ground too well
for us to lose his service. Of course provision
for arming, equipping, etc., must be made. Mr.
Phelps is here, and wishes to carry home with
him authority for this matter.

Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Letter to Secretary Stanton,

Executive Mansion, August 8, 1861.
My dear Sir: Edward Ellsworth, first
cousin to Colonel Ellsworth who fell at Alex-
andria, a non-commissioned officer in the fourth
regiment of Michigan Volunteers, now stationed
at the Relay House, wishes to be a second lieu-
tenant in the army. He is present while I write

i86i] Fast-Day Proclamation 341

this, and he is an intelligent and an exceedingly
wary-appearing young man of twenty years of
age. I shall be glad if a place can be found for
him. Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

Proclamation of a National Fast-day —
August 12, 1 86 1

By the President of the United States of
America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas a joint committee of both houses of
Congress has waited on the President of the
United States and requested him to "recommend
a day of public prayer, humiliation, and fasting,
to be observed by the people of the United States
with religious solemnities, and the offering of
fervent supplications to Almighty God for the
safety and welfare of these States, his blessings
on their arms, and a speedy restoration of
peace":

And whereas it is fit and becoming in all peo-
ple, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the
supreme government of God; to bow in humble
submission to his chastisements; to confess and
deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full
conviction that the fear of the Lord is the begin-
ning of wisdom; and to pray with all fervency

342 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 15

and contrition for the pardon of their past of-
fenses, and for a blessing upon their present and
prospective action:

And whereas when our own beloved country,
once, by the blessing of God, united, prosperous,
and happy, is now afflicted with faction and civil
war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the
hand of God in this terrible visitation, and in
sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and
Crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble
ourselves before him and to pray for his mercy
— to pray that we may be spared further punish-
ment, though most justly deserved; that our
arms may be blessed and made effectual for the
reestablishment of law, order, and peace
throughout the wide extent of our country; and
that the inestimable boon of civil and religious
liberty, earned under his guidance and blessing
by the labors and sufferings of our fathers, may
be restored in all its original excellence:

Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President
of the United States, do appoint the last Thurs-
day in September next as a day of humiliation,
prayer, and fasting for all the people of the
nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all
the people, and especially to all ministers and
teachers of religion, of all denominations, and to
all heads of families, to observe and keep that
day, according to their several creeds and modes

i86i] Telegram to Morton 343

of worship, in all humility and with all religious
solemnity, to the end that the united prayer of
the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace,
and bring down plentiful blessings upon our
country.

In testimony whereof, I have here-
unto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed, this
[l. S.] twelfth day of August, A. D. eighteen
hundred and sixty-one, and of the inde-
pendence of the United States of Amer-
ica the eighty-sixth.

Abraham Lincoln.
By the President: William H. Seward,

Secretary of State.

Telegram to Governor O. P. Morton

Washington, D. C, August 15, 1861.
Governor Morton, Indiana: Start your four
regiments to St. Louis at the earliest moment
possible. Get such harness as may be necessary
for your rifled guns. Do not delay a single regi-
ment, but hasten everything forward as soon as
any one regiment is ready. Have your three
additional regiments organized at once. We
shall endeavor to send you the arms this week.

A. Lincoln.

344 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. i6

Telegram to General Fremont

Washington, August 15, 1861.
To Major-General Fremont: Been answer-
ing your messages since day before yesterday.
Do you receive the answers? The War De-
partment has notified all the governors you
designate to forward all available force. So
telegraphed you. Have you received these
messages? Answer immediately.

A. Lincoln.

Telegram to John A. Gurley

Washington, D. C, August 15, 1861.
John A. Gurley, Cincinnati, Ohio: The
Grosbeck regiment is ordered to join Fremont
at once. Has it gone? Answer immediately.

A. Lincoln.

*Letter to James Pollock

Washington, August 15, 1861.
My dear Sir: You must make a job for the
bearer of this — make a job of it with the col-
lector and have it done. You can do it for me
and you must. Yours as ever,

A. Lincoln,

f86i] Proclamation

345

Proclamation Forbidding Intercourse with

Rebel States, August i6, 1861

By the President of the United States of

America:

A Proclamation.

WHEREAS on the fifteenth day of
April, eighteen hundred and sixty-
one, the President of the United
States, in view of an insurrection against the
laws, Constitution, and government of the
United States which had broken out within
the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alaba-
ma, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas,
and in pursuance of the provisions of the act
entitled "An act to provide for calling forth
the militia to execute the laws of the Union,
suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, and
to repeal the act now in force for that purpose,"
approved February twenty-eighth, seventeen
hundred and ninety-five, did call forth the mili-
tia to suppress said insurrection, and to cause
the laws of the Union to be duly executed, and
the insurgents have failed to disperse by the
time directed by the President; and whereas,
such insurrection has since broken out and yet

34^ Abraham Lincoln [Aug. i6

exists within the States of Virginia, North Caro-
lina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; and whereas, the
insurgents in all the said States claim to act
under the authority thereof, and such claim is
not disclaimed or repudiated by the persons ex-
ercising the functions of government in such
State or States, or in the part or parts thereof
in which such combinations exist, nor has such
insurrection been suppressed by said States:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi-
dent of the United States, in pursuance of an
act of Congress approved July thirteen, eighteen
hundred and sixty-one, do hereby declare that
the inhabitants of the said States of Georgia,
South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Ten-
nessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas,
Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabi-
tants of that part of the State of Virginia lying
west of the Alleghany Mountains, and of such
other parts of that State and the other States
hereinbefore named, as may maintain a loyal
adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or
may be from time to time occupied and con-
trolled by forces of the United States engaged
in the dispersion of said insurgents), are in a
state of insurrection against the United States,
and that all commercial intercourse between the
same and the inhabitants thereof, with the ex-
ceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other

i86i] Proclamation 347

States and other parts of the United States, is
unlawful, and will remain unlawful until such
insurrection shall cease or has been suppressed;
that all goods and chattels, wares and merchan-
dise, coming from any of said States, with the
exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the
United States, without the special license and
permission of the President, through the Secre-
tary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of
said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, by
land or water, together with the vessel or ve-
hicle conveying the same, or conveying persons
to or from said States, with said exceptions, will
be forfeited to the United States ; and that from
and after fifteen days from the issuing of this
proclamation all ships and vessels belonging in
whole or in part to any citizen or inhabitant of
any of said States, with said exceptions, found
at sea, or in any port of the United States, will
be forfeited to the United States; and I hereby
enjoin upon all district attorneys, marshals, and
officers of the revenue and of the military and
naval forces of the United States to be vigilant
in the execution of said act, and in the enforce-
ment of the penalties and forfeitures imposed
or declared by it; leaving any party who may
think himself aggrieved thereby to his applica-
tion to the Secretary of the Treasury for the
remission of any penalty or forfeiture, which

34^ Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 24

the said secretary is authorized by law to grant
if, in his judgment, the special circumstances
of any case shall require such remission.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand, and caused the seal of the United States
to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this
sixteenth day of August, in the year of
[L. S.] our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-
one, and of the independence of the
United States of America the eighty-
sixth. Abraham Lincoln.
By the President: William H. Seward,
Secretary of State.

Letter to Secretary Cameron

Executive Mansion, August 17, 1861.
My dear Sir: Unless there be reason to the
contrary, not known to me, make out a commis-
sion for Simon [B.] Buckner, of Kentucky, as
a brigadier-general of volunteers. It is to be
put into the hands of General Anderson, and
delivered to General Buckner or not, at the dis-
cretion of General Anderson. Of course it is
to remain a secret unless and until the commis-
sion is delivered. Yours truly,

A. Lincoln.

[^Indorsement.']
Same day made.

i86i] Letter to Magoffin 349

Letter to Governor B. Magoffin

Washington, D. C, August 24, 1861.

Sir: Your letter of the 19th instant, in which
you "urge the removal from the limits of Ken-
tucky of the military force now organized and
in camp within said State," is received.

I may not possess full and precisely accurate
knowledge upon this subject, but I believe it is
true that there is a military force in camp within
Kentucky acting by authority of the United
States, which force is not very large, and is not
now being augmented.

I also believe that some arms have been fur-
nished to this force by the United States.

I also believe that this force consists exclu-
sively of Kentuckians, having their camp in the
immediate vicinity of their own homes, and not
assailing or menacing any of the good people
of Kentucky.

In all I have done in the premises, I have
acted upon the urgent solicitation of many Ken-
tuckians, and in accordance with what I be-
lieved and still believe, to be the wish of a
majority of all the Union-loving people of Ken-
tucky.

While I have conversed on this subject with
many eminent men of Kentucky, including a
large majority of her members of Congress, I

350 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 2

do not remember that any one of them, or any
other person, except your Excellency and the
bearers of your Excellency's letter, has urged me
to remove the military force from Kentucky or
to disband it. One other very worthy citizen of
Kentucky did solicit me to have the augment-
ing of the force suspended for a time.

Taking all the means within my reach to form
a judgment, I do not believe it is the popular
wish of Kentucky that this force shall be re-
moved beyond her limits, and, with this im-
pression, I must respectfully decline to so re-
move it.

I most cordially sympathize with your Ex-
cellency in the wish to preserve the peace of my
own native State, Kentucky; but it is with regret
I search [for], and cannot find, in your not very
short letter any declaration or intimation that
you entertain any desire for the preservation of
the Federal Union.

Your obedient servant,

Abraham Lincoln.

Letter to General John C. Fremont^

Washington', D. C. September 2. 1861.
My dear Sir: Two points in your procla-
mation of August 30 give me some anxiety:

* The slaves that found their way into the Union camps were
a source of much embarrassment to the commanding generals.
Butler, at Fortress Monroe, cleverly proved and held them as

i86i] Letter to Fremont 351

First. Should you shoot a man, according
to the proclamation, the Confederates would
very certainly shoot our best men in their hands
in retaliation ; and so, man for man, indefinitely.
It is, therefore, my order that you allow no man
to be shot under the proclamation without first
having my approbation or consent.

Second. I think there is great danger that
the closing paragraph, in relation to the con-
fiscation of property and the liberating slaves
of traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern
Union friends and turn them against us; per-
haps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky.
Allow me, therefore, to ask that you will, as of
your own motion, modify that paragraph so as
to conform to the first and fourth sections of the
act of Congress entitled, "An act to confiscate
property used for insurrectionary purposes,"
approved iVugust 6, 1861, and a copy of which
act I herewith send you.

This letter is written in a spirit of caution,
and not of censure. I send it by special mes-
senger, in order that it may certainly and speed-
ily reach you. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.

contraband of war. Fremont, without consulting the President,
declared the negroes free. Popular approval of his hasty eman-
cipation act was short lived, however, for a severe military
reverse soon followed. November 2nd Fremont was relieved of
his command, but received another later.

352 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. u

Letter to General David Hunter

Washington, D. C, September 9, 1861.
My dear Sir: General Fremont needs as-
sistance which it is difficult to give him. He
is losing the confidence of men near him, whose
support any man in his position must have to
be successful. His cardinal mistake is that he
isolates himself and allows nobody to see him,
and by which he does not know what is going
on in the very matter he is dealing with. He
needs to have by his side a man of large ex-
perience. Will you not, for me, take that
place? Your rank is one grade too high to be
ordered to it, but will you not serve the country
and oblige me by taking it voluntarily?

A. Lincoln.

Telegram to NiL'.y England Governors *

Waf. Department, September 11, 1861.
General Butler proposes raising in New Eng-
land six regiments, to be recruited and com-
manded by himself, and to go on special service.

I shall be glad if you, as governor of

will answer by telegraph if you consent.

A. Lincoln.

1 Form of telegram sent to V\?lashburn of Maine, Fairbanks of
Vermont, Berry of New Hampshire, Andrew of Massachusetts,
Buckingham of Connecticut, and Sprague of Rhode Island.

i86i] Order to Fremont 353

Order to General Fremont

Washington, September ii, 1861.
Sir: Yours of the 8th, in answer to mine of
the 2d instant, is just received. Assuming that
you, upon the ground, could better judge of the
necessities of your position than I could at this
distance, on seeing your proclamation of August
30 I perceived no general objection to it. The
particular clause, however, in relation to the
confiscation of property and the liberation of
slaves appeared to me to be objectionable in its
nonconformity to the act of Congress passed the
6th of last August upon the same subjects ; and
hence I wrote you, expressing my wish that that
clause should be modified accordingly. Your
answer, just received, expresses the preference
on your part that I should make an open order
for the modification, which I very cheerfully
do. It is therefore ordered that the said clause
of said proclamation be so modified, held, and
construed as to conform to, and not to transcend,
the provisions on the same subject contained in
the act of Congress entitled, "An act to con-
fiscate property used for insurrectionary pur-
poses," approved August 6, 1861, and that said
act be published at length with this order.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

354 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 15

Letter to Mrs. Fremont

Washington, D. C, September I2, 1861.
My dear Madam: Your two notes of to-day
are before me. I answered the letter you bore
me from General Fremont on yesterday, and not
hearing from you during the day, I sent the
answer to him by mail. It is not exactly cor-
rect, as you say you were told by the elder Mr.
Blair, to say that I sent Postmaster-General
Blair to St. Louis to examine into that depart-
ment and report. Postmaster-General Blair
did go, with my approbation, to see and con-
verse with General Fremont as a friend. I do
not feel authorized to furnish you with copies
of letters in my possession without the consent
of the writers. No impression has been made
on my mind against the honor or integrity of
General Fremont, and I now enter my protest
against being understood as acting in any hos-
tility toward him.

Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN.

Letter to Joseph Holt

Executive Mansion, September 12, 1861.

Dear Sir: Yours of this day, in relation to

the late proclamation of General Fremont, is

received. Yesterday I addressed a letter to him

by mail on the same subject, and which is in-

i86i] Indorsement on Letter 355

tended to be made public when he receives it.
I herewith send you a copy of that letter, which,
perhaps, shows my position as distinctly as any
new one I could write. I will thank you to
not make it public until General Fremont shall
have had time to receive the original.
Your obedient servant,

A. Lincoln.

Indorsement on Letter of John W. Davis,

[September 15?] i86r
The President has read this letter, and he
deeply commiserates the condition of any one
so distressed as the writer seems to be. He does
not know Mr. Davis — only knows him to be one
of the arrested police commissioners of Balti-
more because he says so in this letter. Assum-
ing him to be one of those commissioners, the
President understands Mr. Davis could at the
time of his arrest, could at any time since, and
can now, be released by taking a full oath of
allegiance to the government of the United
States, and that Mr. Davis has not been kept in
ignorance of this condition of release. If Mr.
Davis is still so hostile to the government, and
so determined to aid its enemies in destroying
it, he makes his own choice.

35^ Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 22

Letter to General Scott

Washington, D. C, September i6, 1861.
My dear Sir: Since conversing with you I
have concluded to request you to frame an order
for recruiting North Carolinians at Fort Hat-
teras. I suggest it to be so framed as for us to
accept a smaller force — even a company — if we
cannot get a regiment or more. What is neces-
sary to now say about officers you will judge.
Governor Seward says he has a nephew (Clar-
ence A. Seward, I believe) who would be will-
ing to go and play colonel and assist in raising
the force. Still it is to be considered whether
the North Carolinians will not prefer officers
of their own. I should expect they would.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

*Endorsement on Paper, September 17, 1861
Will Lieutenant General Scott please con-
sider, and inform me what can be, and ought to
be done as a recognition of the gallantry of the
officers who fought with General Lyon at Wil-
son's Creek? A. LINCOLN.

Order to Secretary Cameron

Executive Mansion, September i8, 1861.
My dear Sir: To guard against misunder-
standing, I think fit to say that the joint expe-

i86i] Letter to Browning 357

dition of the army and navy agreed upon some
time since, and in which General T. W. Sher-
man was and is to bear a conspicuous part, is in
no wise to be abandoned, but must be ready to
move by the ist of, or very early in, October.
Let all preparations go forward accordingly.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

Order to General Fremont

Washington, September 22, 1861.
Governor Morton telegraphs as follows:
''Colonel Lane, just arrived by special train,
represents Owensborough, forty miles above
Evansville, in possession of secessionists. Green
River is navigable. Owensborough must be
seized. We want a gunboat sent up from Pa-
ducah for that purpose." Send up the gunboat
if, in your discretion, you think it right. Per-
haps you had better order those in charge of the
Ohio River to guard it vigilantly at all points.

A. Lincoln.

Letter to O. H. Browning

(Private and confidential.)
Executive Mansion, September 22, 1861.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 17th is just re-
ceived; and coming from you, I confess it as-
tonishes me. That you should object to my
adhering to a law which you had assisted in

35^ Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 22

making and presenting to me less than a month
before is odd enough. But this is a very small
part. General Fremont's proclamation as to
confiscation of property and the liberation of
slaves is purely political and not within the
range of military law or necessity. If a com-
manding general finds a necessity to seize the
farm of a private owner for a pasture, an en-
campment, or a fortification, he has the right to
do so, and to so hold it as long as the necessity
lasts; and this is within military law, because
within military necessity. But to say the farm
shall no longer belong to the owner, or his heirs
forever, and this as well when the farm is not
needed for military purposes as when it is, is
purely political, without the savor of military
law about it. And the same is true of slaves.
If the general needs them, he can seize them and
use them; but when the need is past, it is not
for him to fix their permanent future condition.
That must be settled according to laws made
by law-makers, and not by military proclama-
tions. The proclamation in the point in ques-
tion is simply "dictatorship." It assumes that
the general may do anything he pleases — con-
fiscate the lands and free the slaves of loyal peo-
ple, as well as of disloyal ones. And going the
whole figure, I have no doubt, would be more
popular with some thoughtless people than that

i86i] Letter to Browning 359

which has been done! But I cannot assume this
reckless position, nor allow others to assume it
on my responsibility.

You speak of it as being the only means of
saving the government. On the contrary, it is
itself the surrender of the government. Can it
be pretended that it is any longer the Govern-
ment of the United States — any government of
constitution and laws — wherein a general or a
president may make permanent rules of prop-
erty by proclamation? I do not say Congress
might not with propriety pass a law on the point,
just such as General Fremont proclaimed. I do
not say I might not, as a member of Congress,
vote for it. What I object to is, that I, as Presi-
dent, shall expressly or impliedly seize and ex-
ercise the permanent legislative functions of the
government.

So much as to principle. Now as to policy.
No doubt the thing was popular in some quar-
ters, and would have been more so if it had been
a general declaration of emancipation. The
Kentucky legislature would not budge till that
proclamation was modified; and General An-
derson telegraphed me that on the news of Gen-
eral Fremont having actually issued deeds of
manumission, a whole company of our volun-
teers threw down their arms and disbanded. I
was so assured as to think it probable that the

360 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 24

very arms we had furnished Kentucky would be
turned against us. I think to lose Kentucky is
nearly the same as to lose the whole game.
Kentucky gone, we cannot hold Missouri, nor,
as I think, Maryland. These all against us, and
the job on our hands is too large for us. We
would as well consent to separation at once, in-
cluding the surrender of this capital. On the
contrary, if you will give up your restlessness
for new positions, and back me manfully on the
grounds upon which you and other kind friends
gave me the election and have approved in my
public documents, we shall go through triumph-
antly. You must not understand I took my
course on the proclamation because of Kentucky.
I took the same ground in a private letter to
General Fremont before I heard from Ken-
tucky.

You think I am inconsistent because I did
not also forbid General Fremont to shoot men
under the proclamation. I understand that part
to be within military law, but I also think, and
so privately wrote General Fremont, that it is
impolitic in this, that our adversaries have the
power, and will certainly exercise it, to shoot
as many of our men as we shoot of theirs. I
did not say this in the public letter, because it
is a subject I prefer not to discuss in the hearing
of our enemies.

i86i] Memorandum About Guns 361

There has been no thought of removing Gen-
eral Fremont on any ground connected with his
proclamation, and if there has been any wish
for his removal on any ground, our mutual
friend Sam. Glover can probably tell you what it
was. I hope no real necessity for it exists on any
ground. Your friend, as ever, A. LINCOLN.

Memorandum about Guns

Washington", September 24, 1861.
If twenty guns, and a carriage and appoint-
ments to each, shall be made, equal or superior
to the Ellsworth gun carriage exhibited some
time since to Captain Kingsbury, and more re-
cently to me, the quality to be judged of by Cap-
tain Kingsbury, and shall be delivered to the
Government of the United States at this city
within sixty days from this date, I will advise
that they be paid for at the price of three hun-
dred and fifty dollars for each gun with its car-
riage and appointments, and in addition will
advise that reasonable charges for transporta-
tion from Worcester in Massachusetts to this
city be paid. Will also advise that forty cents
per pound be paid for all good ammunition suit-
able for said guns, which shall be furnished
with said guns, provided the amount does not
exceed two hundred rounds to each gun.

A. Lincoln.

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